MOULTRIE – One of the most memorable games in Moultrie High football history was, perhaps surprisingly, a loss.

It was the last game of the 1959 season at Mack Tharpe Stadium before a crowd estimated at 9,500.

The Albany High Indians came back to win the game 20-19 and claim the Region 1-AAA championship, but one play still stands out in the minds of many who were in the crowd that day.

Packers senior halfback Don Porterfield took the second-half kickoff on his own 13, went up the middle of the field and raced 87 yards for a touchdown that gave Moultrie High the lead – and left Albany trailing for the first time that season — and sent the home stands into a frenzy.

The run was captured on black-and-white film, but is difficult to watch. The camera, set on a tripod, bounced as the stands shook while Porterfield galloped toward the Albany end zone.

That game was the last for Porterfield in Moultrie High uniform, but he left setting a region rushing record and went on to an outstanding career at the University of Georgia.

Porterfield also left Moultrie with many people convinced he was the best ball carrier this community has produced.

“Of all the backs who have been through here, he was the best one,” said former Moultrie High assistant coach Tom White, who has watched nearly every Packer football game since 1950.

“He could do it all: run, catch the ball, punt, kick off, kick extra points.”

One of White’s vivid memories of Porterfield is that there was no time for celebrating after he scored one of his many touchdowns. He simply handed the ball to an official and trotted to the Packers bench to put on his kicking shoe so he could convert the extra point.

“He didn’t have time to dance,” White said.

Porterfield will be inducted into the Colquitt County Sports Hall of Fame at the annual awards banquet to be held Thursday, Oct. 16, at the Colquitt County High cafeteria.

Among the 21 others to be inducted that night will be one of his former coaches – Ace Little – and two of his former teammates, Van Ellis and Tommy Tucker.

The quiet and humble Porterfield said this week in an interview from his home in Pearisburg, Va., that he plans to attend Hall of Fame banquet on Thursday and will be among the inductees introduced at Mack Tharpe Stadium the following night before the Colquitt County-Lowndes football game.

Following his record-setting senior season, Porterfield took his considerable running and passing-catching skills to Athens, where he played for Wally Butts, Johnny Griffith and, in his first year of coaching the Bulldogs, Vince Dooley.

Perhaps his finest day as a Bulldog came on Nov. 17, 1962, when he caught touchdown passes of 13, 15 and 4 yards from quarterback Larry Rakestraw as Georgia upset Auburn 30-21.

That pass-receiving ability had, several years before, convinced Moultrie High coach Knuck McCrary to open up his previously conservative offense. And Porterfield produced, catching the football and gobbling up yardage after he did.

Although Porterfield was born in Florida in 1941, his family was from Colquitt County and soon returned, attending Reedy Creek Elementary School and playing county recreation sports.

By 1958, he moved into Moultrie High’s starting backfield along side Travis Allegood, another exceptional back, and helped lead the Packers to 7-2-1 record.

But the following season, Porterfield came into his own, setting the region rushing record with 1,073 yards in 10 games. He scored 101 points on 14 touchdowns and 17 points after.

Porterfield also caught 13 passes for another 280 yards as part of McCrary’s new “throwing short and running long” philosophy.

Moultrie opened the season with a 19-6 victory over Jordan, with the Packers final touchdown coming when quarterback Jerry Beverly threw to end Billy Chesnutt, who pitched to Porterfield, who ran to the end zone.

Porterfield ran for 160 yards in a 14-13 victory over Lanier and had 133 – and three touchdowns – in the 33-6 win over Baker. He had 110 of the Packers 251 rushing yards in a 34-0 victory over Columbus and added 112 more the following week in a 20-0 shutout of R.E. Lee.

Porterfield’s biggest game as a senior came against Valdosta when he rushed for 222 yards on 21 carries and scored on runs of 57 and 24 yards in a 40-21 victory over the Wildcats at Cleveland Field. He also had 126 yards and two touchdowns against Willingham.

In the season finale against Albany, the Indians were determined to shut down Porterfield and Packers strong running game, which also included halfback Mac Faircloth.

“He was quite an athlete,” said Chesnutt, who caught six passes against Albany as the Indians concentrated on Porterfield.

“He was quick and had a deceptively speedy pace. He had real long strides that made him extremely difficult to tackle.”

That 1959 team also included Ellis, Danny Hortman, Dewey Cobb, Richard Bird, Mac Faircloth, Bernard West, Clyde “Piggie” Isom, Buddy McCoy, Sam Freeman, Charlie Marshall, Gerald Beverly, Wayne Tucker and Tommy Tucker.

“We had some pretty good players,” Porterfield said this week. “I felt like we might have played a little over our heads.

“We rose to the occasion. For small-time guys, we played big-time ball. But we got good coaching.”

Porterfield was named All-Region 1-AAA, All-State and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution named him the Back of the Year in Georgia. He played in the North-South All-Star game and also was named a high school All-American.

Several universities coveted Porterfield and his speed, quickness and pass-catching ability. Florida State called, as did Auburn. Bobby Dodd tried to lure him to The Flats. He even had an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy.

But he had family near Athens and was familiar with the area. Georgia backfield coach and recruiter Sterling DuPree did not have to do much convincing to get Porterfield to become a Bulldog.

“I’d been there many, many time and it was a wish that I could be in that kind of atmosphere,” he said.

But, he added, “I never thought I’d be there.”

Porterfield proved he belonged, lettering in 1962, 1963 and 1964.

Still, it was a difficult period in Georgia football history.

Butts retired after the 1960 season and Johnny Griffith was named to succeed him. Griffith lasted just three seasons, posting a 10-16-4 record, before Dooley, a relatively unknown former Auburn quarterback, was named head coach.

“He came in very low-profile,” Porterfield remembers. “He was a very laid-back individual. He was more of an administrator. But he had a good coaching staff.”

That first staff included Dooley’s brother Bill Dooley, Erk Russell, John Donaldson and Frank Inman.

“With that staff, we jelled,” he said of the 1964 Georgia team, which went 7-3-1, including a 7-0 victory over Texas Tech in the Sun Bowl.

Porterfield said he enjoyed his time in Athens, although he says he wishes he had accomplished more.

Following his career at Georgia, he had tryouts with the Los Angeles Rams and, in their first season, with the Atlanta Falcons.

Porterfield has spent most of his professional career in the textile business in South Carolina and currently raises appaloosa and paso fino horses on his Virginia farm. He has three children, Ric, Paula and Chrissy.

He said he is looking forward to reuniting with his former teammates and coaches in his home town.

“This is a great opportunity to see a lot of old buddies,” he said.