Wayne Grandy
MOULTRIE — The Colquitt County Mike and Jack linebackers have been asking their position coach in recent weeks if they are one of the best groups he has had.
And while Darius Dawson says that he may not have an individual who ranks among the best he has coached, as a group, it is getting harder not to rate them among his best.
It has not been difficult to pinpoint the most improved area of Colquitt County football team as it prepares to take its 9-2 record to Clarkston on Friday for a second-round Region 1-AAAAA meeting with 11-0 Stephenson.
The Packers surrendered 2,439 yards on the ground and 3,175 total yards through 10 games when it went 4-6 in 2008.
This year, the Packers gave up just 1,555 rushing yards and 2,403 total yards through 10 games and then turned in a sparking defensive effort in the 10-0 first-round playoff victory over Westlake last Friday in Atlanta.
Colquitt held the Lions to 91 yards on the ground and 75 in the air for 166 yards, the second-lowest number of yards the Packers have given up this season.
Valdosta and Tift County were each held to 165 yards in back-to-back games last month.
The Packers have been getting outstanding play from tackles Cameron Erving, Nyneson Jeudy and Robert Fuller and from ends Quan Daniels, Tyrell Wright and Rashawn Hunt.
Erving had an especially big game against Westlake, in which he was credited with 10 solo tackles and two assists.
Corners Amel Magwood and Derrell Ward have nine interceptions between them and free safety Davis Durham has another, plus 69 tackles, tying him with Erving for second-most on the team.
The rover and outside linebacker positions manned by William McCrary, Payne Newsome and Jamal Davis have made it difficult for teams to reach the perimeter.
And Dawson’s group — middle linebackers Willie McCrary and Dillon Underwood and “Jack” backers Emory Wheeler and Stephen Moore — has more than held its own.
“They are one of the better groups I’ve had,” said Dawson, who coached the Colquitt County linebackers from 1997-2005, took off two seasons and returned to the staff last season.
“And I’ve yet to see us play, as a group, our best game. You’ll know they have when they come to the sideline and I say ‘Good job,’ and nothing else.”
What he especially likes about them is that “everybody knows their role.”
Willie McCrary has been a big addition to the defense, transferring in from Daphne, Ala., along with twin brother William just before the team left for camp in August.
And despite being what Dawson characterized as “raw,” all Willie has done is utilize his speed to lead the team in tackles with 82.
Underwood, the shortest of the Dawson’s quartet, has done a fine job when he has been in the games, Dawson said.
“You look at him and might think he has no reason for him to be in the game,” Dawson said. “But when he’s in there and there’s a play to be made, he makes it.”
Wheeler and Moore are “identical,” Dawson said.
Wheeler has come up with some crowd-pleasing hits during the season.
Moore, a junior and the only underclassman in the group, might have the most football knowledge.
And wearing jersey No. 19 is just one reason why Moore reminds Dawson of former Colquitt County linebackers Jake and Mike Mobley, who also wore that number.
“They way he carries himself is a lot like Mike,” Dawson said. “And I told Jake (now a Packers ninth-grade coach), he is smart like you.”
Dawson said the Packers will need all four to contribute if the they are going to be able to slow down a Stephenson team that averages 39 points and 349.5 yards of offense a game.
The Jaguars run the wing-T, an offense the Packers have seen in some variation run by Lowndes, Warner Robins, Houston County, Wayne County and Thomasville.
“They are going to run the sweep, power, trap and they’ll run it until you stop it,” Dawson said. “Then they’ve got a few other little wrinkles.
“And they are one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. They’ve got so many weapons, it’s scary.”
In addition to featured back Raymond Sanders, who ran for more than 1,300 yards last year and has 1,429 this season, the Jaguars have a deep and athletic offensive line and a tight end who go deep.
But the Packers are continuing to play well defensively. The wins over Valdosta and Warner Robins have helped build the team’s confidence.
“I thought we had the tools to be pretty good,” Dawson said. “The kids bought in to what we’re doing and their knowledge base has increased. We used the KISS principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid.’ There is not that much thinking. We just want them to react.
“And then they got a taste of what winning’s like.”
Dawson said he especially liked the way the team reacted to the 20-17 loss to Northside that ended the regular season.
The Packers did not act content just to have made the playoffs.
“We felt like we should have won,” Dawson said. “They felt like we shouldn’t have lost.”
The longtime coach calls Friday’s game a pivotal one.
“We’ve got a chance to do something special here,” he said.
