HAHIRA – To be the best, you have to beat the best.

That’s been the message for the Valwood Valiants (7-4) throughout the season.

They’ll get their shot at the best when they travel to Milledgeville to take on John Milledge Academy (11-0) for a spot in the GIAA AAA State Championship on Friday.

Head coach Justin Henderson knows his team has their work cut out for them when they face the Trojans.

“We’re gonna have to totally eliminate our mistakes on both sides of the ball,” Henderson said. “I think, you know, maybe they will have to give us a little help, which then they’re not used to doing and they don’t do it very much. We’re gonna have to get a couple of turnovers here and there. … Every football cliché that you can say to win a football game, we need to go our way.”

The Trojans have been by far the best team in the class the past four years, having won a state-record 48 games in a row as well as the last three state titles.

“They’re a powerhouse,” Henderson said. “You don’t win that many games in a row without having a football factory. They do a great job and they’re well coached. I mean, J.T. [Wall] does a great job there. We’ve been coaching against each other since ‘14, and he’s always got his kids well prepared. You’re not going to catch them, you know, out of position or anything like that.”

The Trojans’ win streak includes three wins over Valwood by a combined score of 174-19. That includes a 62-19 win in the 2019 state title game and two 56-0 wins in 2020 and 2021.

Despite the lopsided results, Henderson believes his team won’t back down from the challenge.

“I just don’t think they’re done yet,” Henderson said. “I think we’ve had a lot of fight in us all year and a lot of our own camp you know, ‘Oh boy, if you beat Terrell, that means you have to go play Milledge.’ I didn’t get that from our players. You hear it in the stands and such. You know, our players, they’re not done. They’ve got a lot of football left in them. Win, lose or draw, I expect them to come out with everything they got.”

John Milledge has made it a habit to capitalize off mistakes and take teams out of games by halftime.

That included last week’s matchup against Heritage when the Trojans turned an early 7-0 deficit into a 35-7 halftime lead.

Another notable instance happened in September against Brookwood. The game was tied at 7 with five minutes left in the half, but John Milledge racked up 21 points over the final three minutes of the half to take a 28-7 halftime lead.

Henderson recalled last year’s matchup where a similar situation unfolded.

“Last year going into half, we were down 14-0 with about four minutes to go in the half,” Henderson said. “We made a couple of mistakes, and we roll in halftime down 35-0.”

Henderson’s message to the team has been simple: Make it to halftime with it still being a game.

“I told the boys today, ‘Hey, look, if we’re still in it going into halftime, you know, let’s come out of halftime with everything we got,’” Henderson said. “You just try to find small victories here and there to keep you going for four quarters. One of them is [to] go into halftime with a game because I think they’ve only done that once this year and maybe only twice in the last two years. So, you know, big point of emphasis.”

Injuries have also started to mount for the Valiants. In their win over Terrell last week, junior quarterback Brooks Best and sophomore running back Triston White both left the game with injuries.

Still, Henderson remains hopeful that both can play on Friday.

“Best is going to go and Triston is still kind of day-to-day,” Henderson said.

Regardless of the result on Friday, Henderson is glad his team has this opportunity after a rough stretch the last two years.

“We’re excited to be here after, you know, the last couple of years, and we’re gonna go out there and give it our best effort,” Henderson said.