What Florida State coach Mike Norvell, Georgia high school football fans saw in Milton's 42-24 win at Gainesville

For the second straight week Norvell lands in helicopter, and though his star 4-star receiver CJ Wiley was relatively quiet, there was plenty more eye candy on display

Florida State football coach Mike Norvell had plenty to watch in Milton's 42-24 victory at Gainesville Friday. / Courtesy photo: NFHS

CJ Wiley, Milton's star wide receiver and a Florida State commit, didn't have his most productive game.

But his future coach Mike Norvell, who showed up near a high school game via a hellicopter for a second straight week, still had plenty to look at during Milton's highly entertaining 42-24 victory at Gainesville.

* Among the committed standouts, Miami-bound quarterback Luke Nickel was terrific completing 18 of 31 for 286 yards and three touchdowns (statistics courtesy of WDUN) for Milton.

* His teammate and Georgia-bound tight end Ethan Barbour was down right dominating with touchdown grabs of 55 and 39 yards. He finished with more than 150 yards receiving.

* Among the uncommitted Norvell might take a look at was Milton 5-foot-11, 195-pound senior tailback TJ Lester, the son of late former NFL running back Tim Lester, rushed for 139 yards, all but 13 coming after halftime when he scored two touchdowns.

One was a 25-yarder that has to be seen to be believed.

TEAM TJ TOUCHDOWN! Like lots of reels, gotta watch this one to the end. A nice 10-yard gain by Milton’s TJ Lester turns into 25-yard seen-to-be-believed touchdown to give ⁦@MiltonEagles_FB⁩ a 35-17 lead over ⁦@RedElephant_FB⁩. Score now 42-24 4Q. pic.twitter.com/Vv5KKmQp0j

— Mitch Stephens (@MitchBookLive) October 12, 2024

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* The other potential fantastic find was Gainesville sophomore quarterback Kharim Higley, a speedy 5-foot-11, 180-pounder who threw for 232 yards and one touchdown and added a terrific 39-yard touchdown run, outracing a speedy secondary.

Considering Milton is the No. 6 team in the country, No. 1 in Georgia, according to SBLive Sports, and that the Eagles are the defending state 7-A champion, the victory wasn't a big surprise. But it was the first regional loss for Gainesville under coach Josh Niblett since he took over in 2022.

Mike Norvell arriving in style to watch high school recruits in Gainesville 🚁 pic.twitter.com/PMdW7tpEER

— Rivals (@Rivals) October 11, 2024