Marietta 38, Milton 24

Vidal, a senior committed to Troy, finished with 144 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries and caught two more scores totaling 18 yards.

“(The Eagles) were zoning in on other players,” Vidal said. “It could have been me, it could have been Arik (Gilbert), it could have been Taji (Johnson) — anybody. It just happened to be my night.”

The Blue Devils’ first three possessions ended in Vidal touchdowns. The first came on a 7-yard reception on third and goal five minutes into the game. Four minutes later, he scored on a 15-yard run, busting through the line up the middle and then cutting to the left untouched. Both scoring drives began with pass plays of over 30 yards, down the middle to wide-open receivers, from senior quarterback and Tennessee commit Harrison Bailey.

Though Gilbert — a receiver committed to LSU who is rated by recruiting services as a five-star — was held out of the end zone, the 6-foot-5, 250-pound blue-chipper’s presence forced the Eagles to key in on him, which helped to open those pass plays up the middle and running lanes for Vidal.

Gilbert finished with six catches for 98 yards.

Vidal’s third touchdown came on a three-yard run with 8:38 left in the half, giving Marietta a 21-0 lead.

Milton would respond with 9:03 left in the half when, on fourth-and-1 from the 28, running back Jordan McDonald received a direct snap. Just before he was sacked, he tossed a soft lob down the middle to Jack Nickel while falling backward, and Nickel reeled it in for a touchdown to make it 21-7. That score, which was set up by a Bailey interception, would hold through halftime.

The Eagles opened the second half by recovering an onside kick, and that led to a Jason Aussin 37-yard field goal. But the Blue Devils would respond with an eight-play, 82-yard drive that lasted just three minutes and ended with an 11-yard Vidal touchdown reception. The drive began with Bailey being sacked for a 16-yard loss, putting the Blue Devils on the 2, but Vidal ran for 26 yards on the next play for the first down. They reversed the field the next play on Gilbert’s 26-yard reception.

Vidal would seemingly put the game out of reach with his final score, a 3-yard run on the fourth quarter’s first possession. On the Eagles’ next drive, they fumbled it to the Blue Devils, after which Cooper Kipp kicked a 27-yard field goal to make it 38-10 with 7:27 remaining.

However, Milton did everything it could to stick around. They would score on two McDonald rushing touchdowns on their next two possessions and recover onside kicks after each score. On their last possession they could have made it a one-score game, but their drive sputtered on the Marietta 13, where they turned the ball over on downs with 1:27 remaining.

The Blue Devils then kneeled out the clock.

Bailey completed 20 of 27 passes for 318 yards and two touchdowns to one interception and Rickey White had 110 yards on eight catches. Johnson had 92 yards on four catches.

McDonald, who accounted for all three of the Milton’s scores, had 33 rushing yards on nine carries. Quarterback Devin Farrell had 44 rushing yards on 12 carries and was 24-of-36 for 217 yards. Jack Nickel led all receivers with 111 yards on seven catches. The Eagles’ primary back, Ahmad Junearick, left after an injury in the first half and didn’t return.

The Blue Devils, who opened the season ranked No. 1, are in the quarterfinals for the second time in three seasons. Vidal believes the team still hasn’t played its best football.

“We still have a lot left in the tank,” he said.

Marietta 14 7 7 10 — 38

Milton 0 7 3 14 — 24

MA — Kimani Vidal 7 pass from Harrison Bailey (Cooper Kipp kick)

MA — Vidal 15 run (Kipp kick)

MA — Vidal 3 run (Kipp kick)

MI — Jack Nickel 28 pass from Jordan McDonald (Jason Aussin kick)

MI — Aussin 37 FG

MA — Vidal 11 pass from Bailey (Kipp kick)

MA — Vidal 3 run (Kipp kick)

MA — Kipp 27 FG

MI — Jordan McDonald 5 run (Aussin kick)

MI — McDonald 3 run (Aussin kick)