Milton cruises past Gainesville in ranked Peach State showdown

Milton (Ga.) entered Friday evening 7-0 on the season and ranked No. 2 in the state of Georgia. The Eagles backed up that resume and ranking with a 42-24 win over No. 18 Gainesville (Ga.) Friday night.

The win over the Red Elephants was Milton’s fourth over a ranked opponent this season — joining victories against No. 4 Buford, American Heritage (No. 9 in Florida) and No. 25 Blessed Trinity Catholic. On deck is 0-7 Johns Creek.

Georgia four-star tight end commit Ethan Barbour opened the scoring with a 39-yard touchdown reception from Miami four-star quarterback commit Luke Nickel. Those two connected again later for 55 yards and a score.

Nickel finished 18-of-31 passing for 286 yards, per WDUN.

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Gainesville put up a first-half comeback that saw the Red Elephants down just 21-17 at halftime, but the Eagles pulled away with a dominant second-half performance.

Milton’s roster is stacked with Power 4 talent. Besides Barbour and Nickel, the Eagles feature Florida State four-star wide receiver commit CJ Wiley, Auburn tight end pledge Ryan Ghea, Arkansas defensive line comimt Caleb Bell, and Tennessee cornerback commits Dylan Lewis and Tyler Redmond.

The Eagles rank No. 2 in the state of Georgia behind Lee County, per the On3 Massey Ratings. Milton is also the No. 19 high school football team in the nation.

The On3 Massey Ratings — which were officially used during the BCS era and have generated college high school sports team rankings since 1995 — rank sports teams by analyzing game outcomes, strength of schedule, and margin of victory.