Georgia High School Football: Gainesville, Milton a clash of titans

Milton head coach Ben Reaves believes games like Friday’s game against Gainesville are what truly determines a ‘dog’. The No. 3 team in the state of Georgia, Milton, will travel to No. 18 Gainesville on Friday night in a pivotal region match-up.

The game will be on television, carried by PeachTree TV at 8 p.m. It’s one that both teams know that they can lose.

“If you’re a true competitor and you have that dog in you like most of us say we do, then you’re excited about Friday,” Reaves said. “You want these games. It makes you feel alive to know pre-game that you’re playing a game that you could lose. There’s something about that feeling that brings life to you. You have to embrace the night, embrace the opportunity and focus on it.”

Both programs sit undefeated in region play thus far. Gainesville’s only loss came at the hands of the No. 1 ranked team in Georgia, Carrollton, earlier this season a game that was also on television.

There are a lot of claims of success for both teams on Friday night.

Milton has been here before

Earlier this season, Milton hopped on a plane and traveled to South Florida to face American Heritage on ESPN.

Milton came away with the 37-28 win that night but for Milton’s head coach, the lessons and experience of the situation were planned in mind for games like Friday.

“We played the big games early on so that we’re more comfortable playing in games like this and it’s going to be a great environment and it’s going to be on TV,” Reaves said. “I told the team, ‘we didn’t go to Miami to play on ESPN, to then go to Gainesville and be on Peachtree TV and be distracted’. There’s a reason why we go play those big games early. When situations like this arise, it’s going to hopefully brings some comfort that we can reflect on. This one is different because it counts toward a region championship. We have a 36-game region win streak on the line. It does mean a little more than that non-region game.”

Key Players: 4-star WR CJ Wiley (Florida State commit), 4-star QB Luke Nickel (Miami commit), 4-star OL Brayden Jacobs (Clemson commit), 4-star TE Ethan Barbour (Georgia commit), 4-star TE Ryan Ghea (Auburn commit), 2025 LB Hayden Tumminia, 3-star DB Tyler Redmond (Tennessee commit), 2025 RB TJ Lester (Eastern Kentucky commit), 3-star DB Dylan Lewis (Tennessee commit), 3-star DL Caleb Bell (Arkansas commit)

Gainesville has been here as well

The Red Elephants have quickly become one of the most respected programs in Georgia under Josh Niblett. They have played anyone anywhere for the last few years. They’ve had success doing so.

Gainesville has lost three games in the last three years. One of those losses was a state championship game.

Reaves has glowing things to say about the team on the other side.

“They have an elite coaching staff, great facilities, they’re going to have great schemes, they’re going to be really good on offense, defense and special team and they’re going to have really good players,” Reaves said. “This is truly a team that is good enough to beat us. We know that. We’re preparing to go play with that mindset.”

Key Players: 4-star OT Alex Payne (North Carolina commit), 2026 4-star Xavier Griffin (USC commit), 2027 QB Kharim Hughley, 2025 OL Wil Turner (Samford commit), 2027 OT Tyler Ford, 2025 DL Julius Columbus (Duke commit), 2025 WR Jeremiah Ware (Georgia Southern commit)

Keys to Victory

Reaves had a simple answer to determining a winning here.

“You have two teams that play as a brotherhood,” Reaves said. “You have two teams that are competitively tough. They’re not scared of us and we’re not going to be scared of them. They’re not afraid of the atmosphere and neither are we. It comes down to the middle letter ‘E’ which is effort. Who is going to play harder? Who empties their tank the most? When the scheme is equal, coaching is equal and talent is equal and nobody is scared it comes down to who wants it more. That will be the determinant on Friday.”

Massey Rating Prediction

Milton 34, Gainesville 22