MOULTRIE —
Travis Pearson, who led a resurgent Colquitt County defense the last two seasons, has resigned as the Packers coordinator to take a job at the University of South Alabama.
Pearson will return to the college ranks to coach the linebackers at South Alabama under head coach Joey Jones and new Jaguars defensive coordinator Kevin Sherrer.
Pearson previously worked at Iowa State for Gene Chizik and was the head coach at Jeff Davis High School in Montgomery, Ala., before being hired by Propst to run Packers defense in 2011.
“He transformed our defense,” Propst said of Pearson. “He changed the mentality on the defensive side of the football and made the kids play better than what they were.
“He’s a major reason we won so many games the last two seasons.”
Propst also praised Pearson’s loyalty.
“And he’s a very, very high-character guy,” Propst said. “He’s a good father, a good husband. I think his character speaks for itself.”
Pearson was hired not long after Propst diagnosed with cancer and the head coach was not around for several weeks undergoing radiation treatments. But the new man on the staff went right to work.
“He’ll be successful in college football,” Propst said. “And he won’t be a position coach very long. He’ll move up the ladder very quickly.”
A native of Gilbertown, Ala., Pearson played college football at Alabama State and played eight seasons in the Arena Football League. In 2003, he was named to Arena Football’s 15th anniversary team as a linebacker/fullback.
He also was the head coach at Central of Haynesville and at Elmore County, both in Alabama before going to Jeff Davis.
Propst said Pearson was just the latest in a long line of outstanding defensive coordinators he has hired over the years.
In fact, Sherrer was a DC at Hoover High School under Propst for three years.
Other DCs who worked for Propst are Bill Clark, recently named the head coach at Jacksonville (Ala.) State; Kevin Shirley, who went on to coach at Valdosta State and UAB; Todd Watson, now the head coach at Foley (Ala.) High School; Jeremy Pruitt, who was recently named the defensive coordinator at Florida State; and Jack Hines, who had a successful college career at West Virginia, Florida State, Samford, Auburn and Clemson.
Local Sports
Pearson leaves Packers to take job at South Alabama
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Quality Employment, Liberty Tax win tournament titles
Quality Employment added the Midget League tournament championship to its regular-season title on Thursday, defeating Davis Insurance 10-0 in five innings at the Magnolia Sports Complex.
And Liberty Tax scored seven runs in its final two at bats to take the Farm League tournament championship with an 8-4 win over Ameris. -
Packers lose LB Key to knee injury
What Colquitt County coach Rush Propst called a better than average spring ended on a disappointing note on Thursday when senior starting linebacker Brandon Key suffered what could be a season-ending knee injury in the last of the 10 spring practices sessions.
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Rec tournament championship games set for Thursday
Ameris dealt Davis Insurance its first loss of the season on Tuesday and will advance to the Farm League tournament championship game.
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Colquitt County soccer banquet
The Colquitt County soccer teams recently held their annual banquet. Winning individual awards for the Lady Packers were Flor Ciniceros, Offensive Player of the Year; Madison Turner, Defensive Player of the Year; Diana Durham, Most Improved Player; and Natalie Griffin, Coach’s Award. Winning top awards for the Packers were Alejandro Cardenas, Offensive Player of the Year; Adan Jimenez, Defensive Player of the Year; Jay Tolbert, Most Improved Player; and Jorge Villalobos, Coach’s Award. Shown at the banquet are, front, from left, Austin Hunnicutt, Richard Garcia, Luis Padilla, Alex Cardenas, Fernando Miranda, Ryan Littleton, Garrett Moore, Garrett May, Elias Moreno, Jorge Villalobos, Adan Jimenez, Hudson May, Josh Smith, Jay Tolbert, Mathew Moody and Eric Gould; back, Kali Summerlin, Diana Durham, Karli Horne, Flor Ciniceros, Elizabeth Charles, Madison Turner, Macie Chitty, Taylor Hoes, Natalie Griffin, Jaycee Lott, Ferrell Tyndall, Kailey Middlebrooks, Kristina Scott, Katie Croft and Bert Vega.
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11 Colquitt County players named All-Region in soccer
Six members of the Colquitt County boys soccer team and five from the girls team have been included on the All-Region 1-AAAAAA team selected by the league’s coaches.
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YMCA flag football champions
R.B. Wright Team 2 defeated Odom in championship game to win the Moultrie YMCA’s Elementary School Sports League flag football title. The team includes, front, from left, Evan Hiers, Gabe Horne, Will Zember, Jackson Avera, Matthew Coop and Chloe Sumner; and, back, Sara Strickland, Ben Howard, coach Greg Coop, Nyquann Washington, Tahj Sanders and Jamad Willis. The Elementary School Sports League, hosted by the YMCA, allows children in fourth and fifth grades to play sports for their schools during the school year.
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Bull Durham takes second in Junior league
urham Insurance scored four runs in the bottom of the final inning to defeat BJ’s Plantation 7-5 on Monday to claim second place in the Junior girls softball league.
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Georgia Hawks heading to Orlando
The Georgia Hawks seventh- and eighth-grade basketball teams will play this weekend in Orlando and are coming off strong recent performances.
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Soccer banquet
The Colquitt County soccer teams recently held their annual banquet. Winning individual awards for the Lady Packers were Flor Ciniceros, Offensive Player of the Year; Madison Turner, Defensive Player of the Year; Diana Durham, Most Improved Player; and Natalie Griffin, Coach’s Award. Winning top awards for the Packers were Alejandro Cardenas, Offensive Player of the Year; Adan Jimenez, Defensive Player of the Year; Jay Tolbert, Most Improved Player; and Jorge Villalobos, Coach’s Award. Shown at the banquet are, front, from left, Austin Hunnicutt, Richard Garcia, Luis Padilla, Alex Cardenas, Fernando Miranda, Ryan Littleton, Garrett Moore, Garrett May, Elias Moreno, Jorge Villalobos, Adan Jimenez, Hudson May, Josh Smith, Jay Tolbert, Mathew Moody and Eric Gould; back, Kali Summerlin, Diana Durham, Karli Horne, Flor Ciniceros, Elizabeth Charles, Madison Turner, Macie Chitty, Taylor Hoes, Natalie Griffin, Jaycee Lott, Ferrell Tyndall, Kailey Middlebrooks, Kristina Scott, Katie Croft and Bert Vega.
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State champion flag football team
Colquitt County won the gold medal in the Senior/Master Traditional Flag Football competition at the recent 2013 Special Olympics Georgia State Summer Games last weekend. Colquitt County defeated Gwinnett County 26-0 in the opening round and defeated Gwinnett again in the championship game 24-0. The team includes, front, from left, Quan Ballard, Joseph Bentley, Wayne Cooley, Jonathon Barnett and James Moxley; back, assistant coach Nick Edge, Shane Jacobs, James Palmore, Jack Hipps, Local Coordinator Grant Hammack, Donta Merritt, Kelvin Holmes and head coach Dennis Eubanks.
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