The College Football Playoff National Championship held on Monday January 9th at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California not only hosted thousands of fans, but featured two past Clovis Unified football players in the game.
Running back Kendall Milton of Georgia and Linebacker Blake Baldwin of Texas Christian both went to Clovis Unified High Schools, Buchanan High and Clovis East, respectively.
Kendall Milton in his junior season at Georgia rushed for 592 yards with 8 touchdowns, boosting his career at Georgia to over a thousand yards rushing with 9 total touchdowns.
He also had his highest year of production in the receiving game, boasting career highs 5 receptions for 64 yards and 1 receiving touchdown this Championship winning season.
Becoming back to back champion with Georgia, Milton helped the southern ‘Dogs in both championship winning seasons with 264 yards and a touchdown last season.
Linebacker Blake Baldwin, a Redshirt Freshman did not see game action in the 2021 season, but did make it into two games in TCU’s run to the College Football Playoff of 2022, seeing action against Tarleton State and Iowa State according to his TCU bio.
He did not play in the National Championship route by Georgia, which would find TCU as 65-7 losers on Monday night.
Kendall Milton met with Sports Director Adrian Luevano from 23ABC news of Bakersfield and Kern County and stated, “Right when we get back to Athens we’re gonna take that little break, but we’re gonna get right back to work and strive for another one…Being a kid in Fresno, growing up, I never saw myself in moments like these being able to play for an SEC team, winning two nattys [National Championships].
I would say to every kid in Fresno, just keep your dreams high…Whatever you put your mind to with the work you can really achieve it.”
Kendall Milton carried the ball 10 times for 33 yards and had 1 touchdown in the National Championship Final against TCU.