MOULTRIE – Before tonight’s Colquitt County-Lowndes football game at Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium, the members of the 2007 Class of the Colquitt County Hall of Fame will be introduced.

Four of the inductees – Greg Bright, Tony DeRosso, Parks Hughes and Christopher McCranie – played for the Packers in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

All four played on teams that went 3-0 against Lowndes and all were members of the 1991 team that defeated the Vikings 15-14 when Hughes threw a pass to McCranie on the final play of overtime.

The Packers won nine straight over Lowndes from 1987-1995, but victories over the Vikings have been hard to come by since then. From 1996 through last season, Colquitt is just 1-10 against Lowndes, with the last win in the series coming in 1999.

Ending the current seven-game losing streak to Lowndes will take an upset that would resonate around the state.

Colquitt County goes into tonight’s game with a 2-5 overall record and is 1-2 in the region. The Packers only victories have come in overtime by a 34-31 against Lee County, currently 1-6, and by a 21-7 margin over Houston County, now 1-7.

Lowndes is 6-1, is riding a six-game winning streak and is ranked No. 4 in Class AAAAA in Georgia, the highest-ranked team in the classification with a defeat. The Vikings’ lone loss came in their opener in the rain by a 9-0 score against Harrison.

The Vikings need to win two of their final three games to clinch the Region 1-AAAAA championship. The Packers need to win two of three just to reach the postseason.

Colquitt County goes into the game after an off-week following the win over Houston County that got the Packers back in the playoff picture.

Lowndes is coming off an emotional and satisfying 18-8 victory over county rival Valdosta.

Packers coach Tim Cokely knows his team will have its hands full with a group of Vikings that appears better than the one that trounced his team in the rain last year at Martin Stadium 41-14.

“They are a little more diverse than their championship teams (of 2004 and 2005),” Cokely said. “We know they are well-coached and fundamentally sound.

“We certainly can’t turn the ball over. They are a great team, but in Region 1-AAAAA, anything can happen.”

The Vikings operate primarily out of the wing-T, but have a number of derivations of it, including what is being called its “Tebow” formation – named after the formation the University of Florida uses with its versatile quarterback Tim Tebow taking a direct snap from center.

Lowndes will line up Greg Reid in the tailback position when it decides to go “Tebow.” The formation was successful at times in the victory over Valdosta, although the Vikings abandoned it after a bad snap nearly sailed over Reid’s head.

But even without the “Tebow” formation, the Vikings are formidable on offense. Reid, who led Region 1-AAAAA in interceptions last season as a sophomore, is perhaps the best two-way player in the league this season.

Reid had an interception against the Wildcats last Friday and his 53-yard touchdown run with 1:22 left sealed the victory for the Vikings.

Lowndes also can unleash Darriet Perry, the school’s career rushing leader. Jerry Postell is emerging as a force at running back. And fullback Tavaris Williams, another top two-way player, is difficult to bring down.

The Vikings also have two quarterbacks to create havoc with the opposition. Khary Franklin is the better runner of the two. Christian Glisson perhaps the better passer.

Despite being shut out in its opener, the Vikings are averaging 33.5 points a game and have scored 42 against Eagles Landing, Central Gwinnett and Coffee.

The Lowndes defense has been dominant at times and has surrendered just 51 points in its seven games. Included are shutouts of Eagles Landing and Central Gwinnett. Valdosta did not score against Lowndes last Friday until less that two minutes remained.

The Packers have no such glowing statistics, but Cokely said he thinks his team is improving, especially after the victory over Houston County two weeks ago.

On offense, the Packers will start junior John Michael Harrison at quarterback, with Travon Littleton and fullback Michael Jenkins behind him in the backfield.

Harrison has completed 28-of-82 passes for 324 yards, with no touchdowns and five interceptions.

And while Littleton is expected to start, Cokely said Dominique Presley, Darryl Thomas and Eric Key also will play at the running back position.

Presley is coming off his most productive game when he rushed for 97 yards and had a 49-yard touchdown run against the Bears. He has 276 yards on 41 carries, an average of 6.7 yards a try.

Key has primarily played defense in recent games — he had just one carry against Houston County — but remains the Packers leading rusher with 335 yards and four touchdowns on 70 carries.

With the return of C.J. Copeland to the secondary this week, Key could become more involved with the offense this week.

Glenn Strickland and Tomorus Collins are the expected starters at receiver.

Brandon Coleman will be the tight end, although Cokely said Cameron Erving is expected to get some snaps there.

The line will have Matt Howell at center, and Weston Gittens and R.J. Taylor at the guards. Torrey Edwards will start at right tackle. Dwight Lewis and sophomore Chris Walsh will be at the left tackle slot.

The Packers hope to continue to produce offensively. Before scoring three times against Houston County, the Packers had scored just one touchdown in each of its two previous games, losses to Valdosta and Coffee.

Copeland and Key are the likely starters at cornerback tonight, with Dominique Hunt and Corzell Ellerson playing the safety positions.

Key had his first interception of the season last week, returning it 77 yards to the Houston County 3 to set up a Packers touchdown.

“Eric is the kind of guy who puts his team before himself,” Cokely said.

Hunt had two interceptions, his second and third of the season, against the Houston. One set up a touchdown and the other came into the end zone, snuffing out a Bears drive.

The linebackers will be Nyneson Jeudy, Terry McDaniel and Justin Jones.

The defensive line is expected to include Donovan McGowen, Eric Roberts, Patrick Phillips and Robert Fuller.

The Packers, who give up an average of 305 yards a game, held Houston County to just 184.

Cameron Fitzgerald will be the punter. Beau Holden will be the place-kicker, with Bo Williams snapping and Strickland holding. Holden also will handle the kickoff duties.

The Packers, who need to win two of the last three to qualify for the postseason, could make that road much easier with an upset of Lowndes.

“Everything is in front of us,” Cokely said. “Coffee was a low point for us. But we’ve made definite improvement.

“We’ve bounced back nicely since our first two games. I think we’re playing good football. We just can’t make mistakes like we did early in the season and expect to win.

Also tonight in Region 1-AAAAA, Coffee (7-1, 3-1) will travel to Valdosta (6-2, 3-1) and Tift County (4-3, 1-2) will to go Warner Robins (2-5, 1-2).

Houston County is off tonight.

Also tonight, Lee County (1-6) is at Thomas County Central (8-0); Bainbridge (5-2) travels to Americus-Sumter County (5-2); Cairo (6-1) goes to Dougherty (3-3); Crisp County (2-5) will be in Sylvester to play Worth County (2-5); Fitzgerald (7-0) goes to Thomasville (5-2); Cook (5-2) goes to Berrien (2-6); and Dodge County (6-1) meets Vidalia (4-3).