Forged by ‘year of adversity,’ Milton on the road as it chases 3-peat title

Milton entered its fourth postseason under coach Ben Reaves in an unusual spot.

The Eagles, who won their first-round matchup at Shiloh 35-17 on Friday, have to win three more games — likely all on the road — to play for a third consecutive state title. Just one of Milton’s 14 playoff games since Reaves took over three years ago has been an away game.

Playing on the road certainly hurts the Eagles’ chances for a title, but Reaves said he believes it could favor his team if it survives to the state championship.

“If we’re fortunate enough to make it back to (Mercedes-Benz Stadium) for Game 15, that’s going to be a road game,” Reaves said. “So we’re going to use these next four weeks — if we’re fortunate enough to keep winning — to perfect that road process, to get comfortable with playing somewhere outside of our home stadium, and maybe that’ll give us an edge if we’re able to make it that far.”

Milton is the only defending GHSA state champion that didn’t earn home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Eagles earned a No. 3 seed in the Class 5A bracket after finishing third in Region 7-5A behind fellow powerhouses Roswell and Gainesville.

Milton also isn’t the only state title contender to earn a No. 3 seed because of a competitive region. Colquitt County, ranked No. 68 nationally by High School Football America, finished third in Region 1-6A behind Valdosta and Lowndes. Ware County earned a No. 3 seed in the Class 4A bracket after suffering single-digit losses to Class 4A powers Benedictine and Warner Robins.

All three teams won road first-round playoff games by double digits.

Dominant teams like Milton that play in competitive regions likely won’t have to go on the road in early November next season because the GHSA’s Postseason Ranking Formula will set the brackets. Milton would have ranked No. 15 in the final PSR rankings of the regular season this year, which would have guaranteed home-field advantage in the first round.

Milton’s postseason future might be brighter with the PSR — and Gainesville’s exit from Region 7 — in place, but Reaves said he believes the postseason road experience can grow a young Milton team that replaced 17 starters this season.

“We’ve been on the road for over 50% of our games, so hopefully that attitude will bleed into next season,” Reaves said. “And no matter where we wind up in the rankings, we know that we’ll have these lessons from this year to reflect on of, ‘You’ve just got to go make an uncomfortable situation comfortable sometimes.’”

Replacing 17 starters was the start of a bumpier-than-usual season for Milton. The Eagles have struggled with injuries all season, losing their starting quarterback in Week 1 and playing without six starters against Shiloh on Friday.

Seven of Milton’s 11 games this season have been on the road, including trips to national top-100 teams Buford, Roswell and The First Academy (Florida).

“In a crazy way, we’ve kind of been prepped for this,” Reaves said. “It’s been a year of adversity for the team.”

Reaves saw his team embody the uncomfortable mentality in its Week 2 game at The First Academy. The Eagles started a backup freshman quarterback for the first time, and the 81-player team was placed in a locker room built for 30 players, so most of the team dressed in the rain.

Milton’s offense struggled with a new quarterback against The First Academy’s defense, but the Eagles found a way to win 24-17, scoring two special teams touchdowns.

“We were going to do everything we could to make it feel like home, to make it ours while we were here, and then we wound up coming out and winning that game, kind of defying all those odds,” Reaves said. “And that’s where the message kind of changed from these are just words to it’s a belief because we’re not only saying it, but we just did it.”

Milton faces a new challenge this week. The Eagles could get several starters back from injury, but Reaves said the flu is running through the team. Milton didn’t practice at all Monday because of illness, and 35 players missed practice on Tuesday.