Brenton King kicked two field goals Friday night, one at the beginning of the game and one at the end. The first one gave him the Mill Creek record. The last one gave Mill Creek its first ever region title.
Meanwhile, his teammate, cornerback Kishawn Miller has a message for the so-called recruiting experts: Stars don’t mean anything.
King’s kicking and Miller’s heroics on defense helped give Mill Creek (10-0, 7-0 in Region 7-AAAAAA) a 20-17 overtime win over Peachtree Ridge (7-3, 6-1), and the school’s first region crown in football. In a slugfest befitting of the two best teams in the region, Mill Creek, ranked No. 5 in Class AAAAAA, finished with the school’s first undefeated regular season while Peachtree Ridge (7-3, 6-1), ranked No. 6, had its seven-game winning streak snapped.
King capped the Hawks’ first drive of the game with a 52-yard field goal to put his team ahead 3-0. The boot was a school record, but the junior said it was well within his range.
“We had been practicing from 50-plus all week, because we knew the game could come down to us needing to make a long one,” King said. “We were eight-for-nine from 50-plus in practice, so I felt pretty confident.”
The Hawks’ next score came courtesy of a 56-yard pick-six by Miller in the second quarter, to put Mill Creek ahead 10-0 at the half.
Peachtree Ridge finally cracked the Hawk defense on its second possession of the third quarter when senior quarterback Bubba Hickson found Christian Sutton behind the Mill Creek secondary on a skinny post, for a 43-yard touchdown to narrow the gap to 10-7.
After forcing the Hawks to go three-and-out, a 30-yard punt return by Chad Clay set up the Lions at the Mill Creek 30. But the Hawk defense stood up. Defense had been the calling card for Mill Creek all season as the Hawks had posted shutouts in five of their last six games going into the season finale and had yielded just under five points per game all year.
Mill Creek forced a punt, and on the Hawks’ ensuing possession, junior receiver Edmond Graham used his 4.3-second speed in the 40-yard dash to run past the Lion secondary and quarterback Cameron Turley found him for a 61-yard touchdown to re-establish the 10-point cushion at 17-7 going into the fourth quarter.
But the Lions would tie the game on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Hickson to junior receiver/defensive back DeAngelo Gibbs early in the fourth quarter, then after recovering a fumble near midfield with a little more than three minutes remaining in regulation, Zaniel Phillips drilled a 29-yard field goal with a little over a minute left, sending the game into overtime.
In the extra period, Mill Creek head coach Shannon Jarvis didn’t hesitate to put his defense on the field first after winning the coin flip.
“We felt confident in our defense and in our offense, quite frankly,” Jarvis said. “I’ve said all year that the strength of this team is its resiliency and its character and they showed that tonight.”
Perhaps the most resilient Hawk of them all was Miller. The senior missed all of last season with a serious shoulder injury. After nabbing his pick-six early, Miller had three more pass breakups during the game. Then he saved his best play for last.
On third down from the 10-yard line, Hickson tried to loft a fade to Gibbs, considered by some recruiting outfits as the state’s best player in the class of 2017. But Miller would have none of it. He made his second interception of the game to shut down the Lions’ only overtime possession.
“I guess they thought their five-star was better than me, a no-star,” Miller said. “I had to prove them wrong. But, honestly, we won this game back in January, when we started putting all the work in. We believed in each other and our coaches, and we were destined to win this game.”
On Mill Creek’s ensuing possession, two runs by Thomas moved the ball to the six-yard line. Jarvis elected to attempt the kick on third down. King and his holder ran out to get set up. They were having a hard time placing the spot for the kick, but Peachtree Ridge helped them out by calling time out, presumably in an attempt to “freeze” King.
“That actually helped us out,” he said. “It gave us time to get the spot right.”
Even though he would go on to nail the game winner from 23 yards out, King gave credit for the win to the Hawk defense, a unit led by Miller, defensive end Tyler Vernon, linebacker Micah Bull and safety Chase Turner. The quartet of seniors combined for three interceptions and four sacks.
“What won this game for us tonight was our defense,”” he said. They’ve been making it happen all year and they did again tonight.”
Peachtree Ridge 0 0 7 10 0 17
Mill Creek 3 7 7 0 3 20
MC – Brenton King 52 fg
MC – Kishawn Miller 55 interception return (King kick)
PR – Christian Sutton 43 pass from Bubba Hickson (Zaniel Phillips kick)
MC – Edmond Graham 61 pass from Cameron Turley (King kick)
PR – DeAngelo Gibbs 35 pass from Hickson (Phillips kick)
PR – Phillips 29 fg
MC – King 23 fg
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