Gil Pound: Pound for Streaking
Nov. 15—One win could equal 48 if the John Milledge Trojans defeat The Heritage School of Newnan in football later this week.
A Trojan victory would mean history, not just for JMA football, but for the entire state as it would be the Trojans' 48th in a row. The current record for consecutive high school football wins in Georgia is 47, and it dates back to 2004 when the Buford Wolves' streak ended in a 20-14 loss to Central Gwinnett on Sept. 10. They had finished the three previous seasons as 15-0 state champs and won their first two games of '04 before falling to Central Gwinnett.
John Milledge's string of consecutive wins began with the 2019 opener versus Gatewood, a 37-0 final. Including that night here in Milledgeville, the Trojans have outscored their opponents 2,001-262. Let's put that into slightly more understandable terms, shall we? Across 46 games — subtracting out one forfeit victory — that's an average final score of 44-6, or better than 6-1 for all you soccer fans out there.
I can't sign my name the same way 48 times in a row, much less coach a football team of high schoolers to win 48 straight. But if the record falls later this week, there will be plenty of folks attempting to belittle the accomplishment, some within John Milledge's own private school-only league. Addressing them first, if you're one of those schools, and it was you breaking the record, how would you feel about it? Would you play it off? I don't think so. Second — and a little more directed — if you're one of the 22 opponents the Trojans have defeated during this streak and you're downplaying the record, did you or your team do everything it could to stop the streak? Because all too many times I've seen good programs with impressive records lose as soon as they got off the bus on Log Cabin Road. They came in with a defeatist attitude, and guess where they wound up? Defeated. It's like they were saving their best punch for another opponent. All fine and dandy if that's how you roll, but don't go poking holes in a record you yourself had a chance to put a stop to.
The above paragraph mostly responds to Georgia Independent Athletic Association (formerly GISA) schools. Now for the public school/GHSA member response. Basically the, "they wouldn't have the record if they played in our league," crowd. Do you know that if John Milledge joined the GHSA, it would be the second-smallest football-playing school in the league based on high school enrollment? The GISA (now GIAA) was created for schools just like that. The Trojans are right where they should be, and shouldn't be celebrated any less because of it.
