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Georgia Player of the Year by the Atlanta newspaper:
Milton quarterback Luke Nickel was so reliable and his team so good that his playoff performance came and went, much like his career, without its proper due.
His 20 touchdown passes are a state playoff record, by the way. And they came without an interception. And his farewell performance – 21-of-22 passing for 409 yards and four touchdowns in the Class 5A championship game – was the best effort in the career of one of the state’s all-time leading passers.
“Luke played as locked-in and laser-focused as I’ve ever seen him,” Milton coach Ben Reaves said. “Making sure this team repeated as state champions was very important to him, and he knows that any good offense runs through the quarterback. He took film study and practice reps with the same intensity he did game reps, and it all paid off.”
Nickel, the AJC’s all-classification player of the year, was 38-6 as Milton’s three-year starting quarterback. He won his final 25 starts and two state titles. He passed for 10,165 yards, 11th all-time in Georgia. His 107 TD passes rank 15th all-time.
This season, Nickel guided one of the great teams in state history. Milton (15-0) finished No. 2 in six national polls, and Nickel was among nine Milton seniors who signed with ACC or SEC programs. Nickel was 209-of-308 passing for 3,744 yards and 44 touchdowns. His yards per pass rose to 12.2 from 9.3 from a junior season in which he was the Class 7A offensive player of the year.
“His pocket presence, accuracy and composure was next level,” said Lee County coach Dean Fabrizio, whose team lost to Milton 56-28 in the semifinals. “One of the best quarterbacks I have faced in over 30 years of coaching. He was very impressive.”
Milton quarterback Luke Nickel was so reliable and his team so good that his playoff performance came and went, much like his career, without its proper due.
His 20 touchdown passes are a state playoff record, by the way. And they came without an interception. And his farewell performance – 21-of-22 passing for 409 yards and four touchdowns in the Class 5A championship game – was the best effort in the career of one of the state’s all-time leading passers.
“Luke played as locked-in and laser-focused as I’ve ever seen him,” Milton coach Ben Reaves said. “Making sure this team repeated as state champions was very important to him, and he knows that any good offense runs through the quarterback. He took film study and practice reps with the same intensity he did game reps, and it all paid off.”
Nickel, the AJC’s all-classification player of the year, was 38-6 as Milton’s three-year starting quarterback. He won his final 25 starts and two state titles. He passed for 10,165 yards, 11th all-time in Georgia. His 107 TD passes rank 15th all-time.
This season, Nickel guided one of the great teams in state history. Milton (15-0) finished No. 2 in six national polls, and Nickel was among nine Milton seniors who signed with ACC or SEC programs. Nickel was 209-of-308 passing for 3,744 yards and 44 touchdowns. His yards per pass rose to 12.2 from 9.3 from a junior season in which he was the Class 7A offensive player of the year.
“His pocket presence, accuracy and composure was next level,” said Lee County coach Dean Fabrizio, whose team lost to Milton 56-28 in the semifinals. “One of the best quarterbacks I have faced in over 30 years of coaching. He was very impressive.”
