The Milton defense forced four turnovers and outslugged Walton 31-21 to win its second Class 7A championship on Wednesday.

Milton (13-2) intercepted Walton quarterback Jeremy Hecklinski three times, including a 5-yard pick-six from Jacorey Stewart with 52 seconds remaining to seal the outcome. Jack Lawson and Ty Redmond had the other interceptions, while Drew Cohen recovered a fumble. The Eagles sacked Hecklinski three times and Ma’khi Jones and Lawson each had eight tackles.

Click here to see the official box score.

The Eagles, who won their other championship in 2018, got a masterful performance from quarterback Luke Nickell. The junior completed 19 of 25 passes for 201 yards and one touchdown, with one interception. T.J. Lester led the running attack with 51 yards and one touchdown on nine carries. Debron Gatling had seven receptions for 72 yards and Marc Essley II caught six passes for 85 yards and one touchdown.

Hecklinski completed 11 of 24 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns. He threw five interceptions in the last two games after throwing only one in the first 13 games. Hunter Teal had four catches for 42 yards and one touchdown and Cameran Loyd caught a touchdown pass. Makari Bodiford ran 17 times for 131 yards and one touchdown, but lost a fumble.

Walton scored first on an 11-yard pass from Hecklinski to Teal, but Milton answered with a 91-yard drive the finished with Lester scoring from the 1. Boddiford scored on a 3-yard run to send Walton to halftime with a 14-10 lead.

Milton took the lead midway in the third quarter on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Nickel to Essley, then went ahead 24-14 on Nickel’s 1-yard run. Walton closed the margin to 24-21 when Loyd caught a 43-yard pass from Hecklinski.

The Raiders stopped Milton inside the 5 in the final two minutes when Stewart grabbed the interception and traipsed in for the game-sealing touchdown.