MOULTRIE —  Both Colquitt County and Newnan could be without key components when they meet at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Drake Stadium in Newnan in Class AAAAAA second-round state playoff game.

Colquitt County coach Rush Propst said senior safety Garrett Pearce suffered a knee injury early in the fourth quarter of the Packers 30-28 win at McEachern on Friday that could end his season.

Pearce had been Colquitt County’s Defensive Player of the Week in the victories over Camden County and McEachern and had come up with several key tackles in both games.

Propst said if Pearce is unable to play, he will move Tim Sanders from corner to safety and give junior Michael Sutton his first varsity start against the Cougars on Friday at the corner position opposite Johnny Ward.

While the Packers have apparently lost one of their best and most consistent defensive players, Newnan may have to play on Friday without their triggerman.

Sophomore quarterback Bailey Bryant injured his shoulder in the third quarter and did not return in the Cougars’ 38-0 first-round playoff victory over Alcovy last Friday.

The sophomore left-hander was 9-of-10 for 117 yards and a touchdown when he injured his throwing shoulder trying to recover a bad snap in the third quarter.

Bryant has completed 92-of-141 passes for 1,440 yards and 13 touchdowns while throwing just four interceptions this season.

If Bryant is unable to play on Friday, the Cougars are likely to go with Diamond Jones, who played well in Bryant’s absence late in the win over Alcovy, guiding his team to a pair of scoring drives.

“Diamond did a really good job out there,” Newnan coach Mike McDonald to The Newnan Times-Herald after the game. “He completed three or four really nice passes at the end of the game.”

Newnan also lost starting center Myles Moran in the victory over Alcovy, the No. 3 team from Region 2, which ends its season with a 4-7 record.

In the victory over Alcovy, Newnan jumped out to a 17-0 halftime lead on a safety, a 1-yard run by leading rusher Quinton Dix and Bryant’s 39-yard touchdown pass to Tray Matthews, who has committed to the University of Georgia as a defensive back.

Newnan blew the game open in the second half with three unanswered touchdowns: runs of 2 and 9 yards by Kelvin Khayyam and a 30-yard interception return by Rodney Tennie.

Tennie had two interceptions for the second game in a row and has five on the season.

The Cougars will take a 9-2 record into Friday’s meeting with the Packers and both of those losses have come against teams still alive in the playoffs.

Newnan lost 38-7 to Region 5-AAAA’s Sandy Creek early in the season. It was one of the Patriots 11 victories this season.

The Cougars other loss was to Region 3-AAAAAA opponent Langston Hughes, which won region title and advanced in the playoffs on Friday when it eliminated Rockdale County 37-3.

Since the loss to Hughes, Newnan has won four in a row for coach Mike McDonald.

In his fifth season as Newnan’s head coach, McDonald has led the Cougars to a 35-14 record. He also spent three years at Union Grove, posting a 19-15 record there from 2004-2006.

A defensive back on Morrow High’s 1987 state championship team, McDonald was Newnan’s defensive coordinator for two seasons before being named to take over after Robert Herring retired.

And the Newnan defense is playing well down the stretch, having given up just 20 points in the last four games, including just seven in the last three, which includes shutouts of Alcovy and Westlake.

McDonald is just the fourth coach at Newnan since 1966, succeeding Max Bass (29 years), Bill Kelley (four years) and Herring (10 years).

The Packers will try to win a second-round game for the fourth straight season.

In 2009, the Packers upset Stephenson 22-21; in 2010, they eliminated M.L. King 48-47; and last year, they got by North Gwinnett 17-7.

Colquitt County has won three in a row since its 38-36 loss to Valdosta, defeating Coffee 29-9, Camden County 13-12 and McEachern 30-28.

The winner of Friday’s game will face the West Forsyth-Parkview winner.

West Forsyth, the Region 6 champion, advanced with a 66-41 victory over Collins Hill on Friday.

The Wolverines are 10-1 and have scored 66 points once, 63 points twice and 56 points once this season.

Their only loss was by a 29-28 score against Chattahoochee.

Parkview, the No. 3 team from Region 8, edged Walton 20-17 in double overtime.

The Panthers, under longtime coach Cecil Flowe, are 8-3.

 PACKERS NOTES: For fans planning to go to Drake Stadium at Newnan High, the trip is about 196 miles takes about three hours and 30 minutes.

MapQuest recommends going to Albany and taking U.S. Highway 82/Georgia 520 to Columbus.

In Columbus, pick up I-185 North and take it about 48 miles and pick up I-85 North.

Take I-85 about 21 miles to Exit 41 and take U.S. 29 toward Newnan. Turn left on U.S. 29 North and go 2.7 miles. Turn left in Sewell Road  and go 1.2 miles to Waterworks Road and turn right. Go less than a half-mile and turn right on LaGrange Street at Newnan High School.