By ADAM WELCH
pressbox1.com

MILAN - The last time the Milan Bulldogs met the JCS Eagles was back in the regular season with the Bulldogs prevailing with a 35-21 victory at JCS.

But Friday night at Johnnie Hale Stadium was all about the Bulldogs and getting back to their dominant ground attack that Milan was looking to get back to.

“First and foremost we ran the football," said Milan head coach Jeff Morris. "We came out and got in to what I call Bulldog football.

The Milan defense also slowed down the JCS offense and quaterback Cody Jones who was limited to less than 200 yards passing. The defensive pressure up front was too overpowering at times for the Eagles to handle.

Jones picked apart Milan’s secondary with nearly 400 yards passing in their last encounter. But Friday night, Jones was pressured and sacked several times in Milan’s 51-28 victory at Johnnie Hale Stadium on a chilly night with freezing temperatures. The victory was significant in that Milan will host Nashville-Goodpasture in the Class 2A state semifinals Friday, Nov. 28. Kickoff is 7 p.m. and admission is $7.

“We don’t do a very good job of playing a zone pass defense," said Morris. “They had trouble blocking us.”

Milan’s defense kept the JCS offense off the field most of the first half. Justin Coleman got behind his offensive line during the game’s first drive and scored the first touchdown of the night with a three-yard run into the end zone.

“They only snapped the ball one time in the second quarter, said Morris.”

The Eagles responded instantly on the kickoff as Will Johnson found a hole up the right sideline and went 87 yards to pay dirt to tie the game at 7.

Then the Bulldogs answered with a lengthy drive that went 14 plays for 67 yards that ate up most of the first quarter. The key play in the drive was J.W. Williams’ 30 yard run on the reverse on fourth down to keep the drive alive. Seven plays later Jobrinski Gilbert plunged over from 2 yards out for the score to give Milan a 14-7 lead.

The Bulldog defense contributed to two touchdowns in the second quarter, the first coming when Milan caused a Cody Jones fumble that led to Tristan Peoples 26-yard touchdown run on the reverse. Later, Bulldog Avery Williamson's blocked punt set up Gilbert on the next play with a 2-yard touchdown plunge to extend Milan’s 28-7 advantage.

With the Eagles trailing by three scores, they may have gotten a break they needed to get back into it. After Milan fumbled the JCS punt, Jones had consecutive completions to Drae Bowles and Will Johnson. Then Johnson went 32 yards on the counter right for the touchdown to cut the Milan lead to 28-14.

What little momentum JCS created however was negated however as the Bulldogs drove down the field before the half and Ricky Moody booted a 30 yard field goal that split the uprights to give Milan a 31-14 lead.

Big plays was the theme for the bulldogs the second half. Williams scored on a 43-yard run to start the half. Then later Milan continued to pour it on when Chris Bledsoe busted through tacklers and went 22 yards off left guard for the score.

Finally, Milan put the icing on the cake late as quarterback Justin Coleman found Dominique Moore wide open on the flag pattern 35 yards down to the 8. Three plays later, Gilbert finished his night scoring his third touchdown of the game finishing with 128 yards.

With the game all but out of hand, Milan’s younger players would see most of the action in the fourth quarter as they gained valuable game experience.

JCS senior running back Johnson ended his high school football career with 11 carries for 86 yards and 4 touchdowns in the loss.