It can be tough to succeed on the football field with a one-dimensional offense, but the John Milledge Trojans proved the exception to the rule in a crucial region game against the Stratford Eagles in Macon on Friday.

The Trojans, led by tight end and Georgia Bulldogs commit Asa Wall, did just enough on offense and clamped down on defense to snuff out a fired-up Stratford team and its home crowd, escaping Bibb County with a 28-20 victory — and with a 10-0 record to finish the regular season.

The Eagles (7-2) matched John Milledge better than any other team had so far this year, but Stratford shot itself in the foot a few times with penalties and missed chances — particularly on two drives that ventured inside the 5-yard line but ended with unceremonious field goals — and came up short as a result.

“Right there in the second half, the penalties hurt us,” Stratford head coach Paul Carroll said. “A lot of times it comes down to fatigue, it comes down to having a lot of kids playing a lot of both ways. They don’t finish like they did in the first half, they start getting a little lazy with the feet and they’re deadlegged.”

The mistakes were more disheartening considering Stratford’s success throwing the football. Quarterback Tucker Johnston did a good job of stepping up in the pocket and delivering timely passes to Myles Cobb along with Tate and Jett Johnston, though an interception in the second half kept the Eagles from maintaining their momentum.

The faults proved too much. John Milledge handed the ball off to Wall regularly, and while Stratford managed to bottle up the future Bulldog more often than most defenses, he was still hard to bring down behind solid blocking.

“Their offensive line is probably one of the best offensive lines I’ve seen in a long time, and then you’ve got (Asa) behind ‘em,” Carroll said. “We’d hit him in the backfield and he’d keep going. He’s a heck of a football player. When you say 28-20, it’s still a loss. That ain’t our standard here at Stratford.”

It looked from the outset like Stratford might struggle, as John Milledge waltzed down the field behind Wall to set up a touchdown by Lane Rhodes on its first drive. The Eagles then got all the way down to the 1-yard line, but had to settle for a field goal after penalties backed them up. The Trojans then scored again on a rush from Cayden Wingfield to put Stratford on the ropes in a 14-3 game.

The Eagles came back and used their pass-heavy offense to grab some momentum back, completing throws to Cobb and Jett Johnston to move down the field before Tucker Johnston punched it in from a yard out to make it 14-10.

While they allowed another touchdown with less than a minute before halftime, the Eagles ran an excellent two-minute-drill-style offense to score a touchdown on a pass from Tucker to his twin, Tate, to make it 21-17 going into halftime.

Stratford got the ball after the break and came out sizzling, but the effort ended much like their possession to open the game. Instead of taking what would have been their first lead of the night, the Eagles faltered inside the 10-yard line and settled for another George Dunn field goal to make it 21-20.

It looked like that shortcoming would be rectified when Stratford got a fantastic stop, as Jett Johnston broke up a third-and-long pass to Wall on the other side to force a Trojans punt. But Tucker Johnston rolled to his left and tried to force a pass to the boundary soon after, putting into a John Milledge defender’s hands and giving it right back.

From there, it was a slow, deflating denouement for the Eagles. John Milledge chewed the clock and scored another touchdown with less than 10 minutes left to play. Stratford couldn’t quite click on its last two drives, racking up penalties — the Eagles had a third-and-33 at one point — and failing to reach the endzone for a chance to tie things up.

The Trojans’ win extends their streak to 19 dating back to last season. John Milledge’s last loss came against Athens Academy on Sept. 5, 2025. The Trojans currently have the No. 1 spot in the Class 3A rankings for the GIAA playoffs.

Stratford has one regular season game left before playoffs, which Carroll was already focused on following the loss to John Milledge.

“It’s one of those where you have to move on,” he said. “We’re ready for next week against Tattnall.”