MOULTRIE —  



Colquitt County’s Bobby Hill (15) is brought down after a kick return in Friday’s scrimmage against Norcross.





Rush Propst said his team might have been a little taken with itself in its preparations before meeting Norcross on Friday at Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium.

The Colquitt County head coach said the Packers may be become a bit complacent, reading and believing much of good things said about them.

But the 33-31 loss to the Blue Devils on Friday might have brought the Packers back to earth.

“We needed a little humble pie,” Propst said Saturday after watching replays of the scrimmage and reflecting on what his team has to do to get ready for next Saturday’s season-opener.

“We’ve got the next five days to get sense of urgency,” Propst said.

The Packers will meet North Gwinnett at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Georgia Dome in the third game of Corky Kell Classic.

It will be a rematch of the second-round state playoff game from a year ago, a game won by the Packers 17-7.

But Propst said North Gwinnett defeated Stephenson 14-13 on Friday and added that he thinks the Bulldogs are better this season than last, when they went 11-2.

“The key for us is how respond this week,” Propst said.

And the Packers appear to have plenty to work on, especially defensively.

Colquitt surrendered 467 yards in just three quarters of play to the Blue Devils, including 221 on 13 carries to running back Alvin Kamara.

Earlier on Friday, the Georgia High School Football Daily has named Kamara as one of the two running backs on its Class AAAAAA All-State football team.

And Kamara showed why he Georgia and Alabama want him.

He ran for touchdowns of 82 and 14 yards in the first quarter and had a 69-yard scoring run in the second quarter.

He exhibited great speed, balance and lateral movement that frustrated would-be Packer tacklers.

“He is a great back,” Propst said.

But the play of Norcross quarterback Joseph Wilber and receiver Clinton Lynch was perhaps more crucial.

Wilber completed 14-of-22 passes for 211 yards and hit a big 30-yarder on a fourth-and-15 with 14 seconds left to set up the winning touchdown run by Myles Autry.

Lynch caught five of the passes for 135, including the one that set up the winning score.

Propst was frustrated by his secondary play, especially in deep backfield.

He would not say who would play the safety positions when the Packers take the field against North Gwinnett, but said that Bobby Hill and Tim Sanders, primarily offensive performers, will get long looks there this week.

“We’ve given up more third-and-10 and fourth-and-15 passes than I can remember,” Propst said.

“Third-and-long conversions is going to be a high priority this week.”

Propst also was not happy with how the Packers lined up on the final play of the game.

Colquitt took three timeouts before the Blue Devils play from the 1-yard line with 2 seconds remaining.

“And we still didn’t get lined up right,” he said.

Propst said he hoped to have senior cornerback Johnny Ward back for the game against North Gwinnett.

Ward did not dress on Friday while recovering from a hip flexor injury.

Michael Sutton, another corner who missed the scrimmage also is expected to be in uniform on Saturday.

“I was disappointed in our defense,” Propst said. “All of our coaches were.

“We just didn’t get ready to play.”

Propst said he felt better about the work of the offense, saying “we scored enough to win.”

He praised the effort of Maleek Lewis, who busted an 87-yard touchdown run and also returned the second-half kickoff 51-yards to set up the Packers final touchdown.

Propst said Sanders and John Boatwright, who scored two touchdowns, also ran the football well.

Cole Segraves, who completed 7-of-9 passes, including a 19-yarder to Hill for the game’ first touchdown, played well

Hill caught two passes for 34 yards, but Propst said the senior two-way player is still suffering from plantar warts on his foot.

“He’s still hurting,” Propst said.

Another player hurting is senior defensive end Creig Harris, who suffered a shoulder injury that could bother him all season, Propst said.

But the Packers should have senior guard Dalton Dillon back in the lineup for North Gwinnett. Receiver D.J. Johnson and tight end Colby Reneker will join Ward, Sutton and Dillon on the practice field this week.