MOULTRIE —
Colquitt County got its fourth-straight come-from-behind victory on Friday and the result is a fourth-straight trip to the state semifinal.
Trailing 7-0 after a first-half in which it had just 16 snaps, two of which were punts, the Packers exploded for 31 consecutive second-half points to eliminate Parkview 31-15 and earn a trip to Norcross to meet the unbeaten Blue Devils on Friday.
The Packers trailed twice to Camden County in the regular-season finale before scoring a touchdown with 54 seconds remaining to win 13-12.
In the playoff opener at McEachern a week later, the Packers trailed twice early before taking control and winning 30-28.
The next week, Newnan took a 23-18 lead on a touchdown with 7:40 left before the Packers scrambled back to score a touchdown with 1:38 left to win 26-23.
“We’ve done it all year,” said Packers coach Rush Propst. “We just had no tempo the first half.”
The Packers had plenty of tempo in the second half, taking advantage of three turnovers to end Parkview’s season.
“Our defense was much better in second half,” Propst said. “Our tackling was better.”
And Parkview helped.
After the Packers took the second-half kickoff and marched to a touchdown to tie the game, Tim Sanders picked off an errant Panthers pass and on the next play Cole Segraves and Bobby Hill combined on a 35-yard touchdown pass.
Parkview fumbled on the ensuing kickoff and Javonta Woods recovered on the Panthers 12.
Segraves threw to Todd Boyd in the end zone and the Packers suddenly found themselves up 21-7 less than six minutes into the third quarter.
“That throw to Todd Boyd was just unbelievable,” Propst said.
Will Bannister, who converted after all four Packer touchdowns, added a 38-yard field goal, his fourth in five attempts this season, and John Boatwright scored from a yard out to complete the scoring.
An interception by O’Shay Williams, his third of the season, set up Boatwright’s score.
It was the Packers 11th playoff victory away from Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium since 2009.
In the playoffs the last four years, Colquitt is 2-0 at home, 11-2 on the road and 0-1 at the Georgia Dome.
Parkview had two opportunities to seriously discourage the Packers in the first half, but came up short.
On their first possession of the game, the Panthers used up 6:45 of the clock and 12 plays to get the the Packers 26.
But on a fourth-and-5, Parkview elected to seek a first down rather than try a field goal, and the Packers Johnny Ward hit Justis Rosser for a two-yard loss and the Packers had held.
And leading 7-0 and facing a third-and-goal at the Packers 2 with 28 seconds left in the first half, Parkview rolled quarterback Rob Youngblood out to the right, where he fired into the end zone.
But Colquitt’s Jeffrey Lawson picked off the pass and ran it to the Colquitt 11 to stifle the Panthers again.
"You've got to score points in this game," Parkview coach Cecil Flowe told the Gwinnett Daily Post after the game. "You've got to get the ball down the field.
"We didn't score in the red zone, twice, and we should have. That may have changed the game."
The Packers were outgained 246-239 after producing just 40 yards in the first half.
Segraves completed 9-of-18 passes for 117 yards and went over the 2,000-yard mark, settling in at 2,098.
Hill and Boyd each caught three passes for 51 yards. Hill now has 76 catches for 1,052 yards and six touchdowns this season. Boyd has 40 receptions for 771 yards and five scores.
Colquitt County is now 2-4 against Parkview.
Also on Friday, North Cobb eliminated Mill Creek 45-35 in a shootout and will travel to meet Lovejoy in the other state semifinal next Friday.
Lovejoy advances to the semifinals in just its first year in the state’s highest classification after knocking off North Gwinnett 21-6.
The Wildcats are 12-1 with their only loss coming by a 14-7 score against Colquitt County.
Travis Custis carried 37 times for 137 yards to lead Lovejoy to the victory.
Local Sports
Related Photos
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Colquitt County's O'Shay Williams leaps on the pile as the Packers stop a Parkview runner on Friday. Connie Southwell
Discussion
Packers rally again, qualify for state semifinals
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Packers head to Tifton to chase state golf championship
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Davis Insurance, Hutson Motors win boys baseball championships
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TOURNAMENT RUNNERS-UP
The Colquitt County Legends 9U travel baseball team placed second at the Berrien County 10U Invitational Tournament held last Saturday. All the teams in the tournament were 10U teams except the Legends, who were the only 9U team. Shown are, front, from left, Chasyn Miley, Hayden Moore, Abraham Daniels, Jace Autrey, Henry Underwood, Hayes Lightsey and Landon Griffin; middle, Cole Whatley, Nathan Harden, Davis Dalton, Cannon Whatley, Drew Johnson and Mason White; back, coaches Andy Whitaker, Chris Miley, Ricky Griffin, Keith Whatley and Clay Underwood.
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Lowndes, Tift County eliminated
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Quality Employment wins Midget League title
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Quality won the title when the game ended in a 5-5 tie.
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