MOULTRIE — Colquitt County defensive coordinator Bill Ragans has double the trouble to worry about as he tries to get his group ready to meet Thomas County Central on Friday in Thomasville.

Not only must the Packers defense prepare for Ed Pilcher’s split-back veer offense, which few teams run.

Colquitt also must find ways to hem up a stable full of able and elusive backs.

“They’ve got the hosses in the backfield,” Ragans said of the groups that includes quarterbacks Dontavia Bogan and P.J. Williams, fullback Debrale Smiley and running back Chester Hightower.

“They’ve got two real good quarterbacks. It’s hard for them to find a place to play them. They’re a load.”

The Packers may not have to deal with Bogan, the speedster who also starts in the secondary. The versatile senior injured an ankle late in the Yellow Jackets 21-7 victory over Thomasville last Friday and may not play on Friday.

Before he went down, Bogan scored on touchdown runs of 66 and 47 yards. Smiley scored on a 63-yard burst up the middle on the first play of the second half.

But even if Bogan is not ready to go, the Yellow Jackets have plenty of firepower without him. Hightower, who also is an outstanding defensive back, may be forced into double duty, playing in the secondary and in the offensive backfield.

The Packers remember Hightower from last year, when he ran for 276 yards and three touchdowns at Mack Tharpe Stadium at Tom White Field in the Yellow Jackets 41-21 victory.

Smiley, the 240-pound fullback, ran for 87 yards and three touchdowns when Central rushed for 430 yards last year. As a sophomore, Smiley went on to rush for 1,423 yards on 222 carries and score 22 touchdowns in 2005.

Other than the three long touchdown runs, however, the Yellow Jackets offense was held in check by the Bulldogs and Pilcher is likely to have made some adjustments before lining up against the Packers.

And the veer puts plenty of pressure on the defense.

“We’ve been rehearsing the assignments,” Ragans said. “We’ve got to know who’s got to be where when something happens.

“The option is assignment football.”

The defensive front that will have to deal with the option will be largely inexperienced. Of the down linemen, only Cory Jordan played against Central last year, and he did not start.

But Jordan, Antonio Sutton and either Eric Roberts on Willie Carr will be in the trenches against the Yellow Jackets.

Roberts, a 6-foot-4, 265-pound junior who played at Worth County last year before transferring to Colquitt County after the 2005 football season, got a start and came up with a sack against Cook.

Defensive ends Javaris Jackson and Melvin Dabney also will need to execute well.

“They are going to try to knock us off the ball and run that veer,” Ragans said. “They do a good job of it with different looks. They’re a good football team. We’ve got to be ready.”

The Packers started Derek Illian and Terry McDaniel at the inside linebacker positions against Cook on Friday.

The Packers secondary of cornerbacks Vance Cuff and Justin Walker and safeties Willie Tatum and Dontrell Johnson will need to be in position to make tackles if the Yellow Jackets break loose.

The Packers held Cook High scoreless in last Friday’s 28-0 victory that was shortened by lightning to two quarters.

The Hornets managed just 84 yards on 21 carries and did not complete any of their three passes.

Colquitt had four tackles for losses and the one sack of Cook quarterback Ty Goff.

PACKERS NOTES: Colquitt County head football coach Tim Cokely remained hospitalized on Tuesday.

Colquitt County Principal Bob Jones said Cokely was admitted to Colquitt Regional Medical Center on Monday “to get some rest.”

Cokely, who suffered a broken collarbone and two broken ribs last Thursday when the van he was driving was struck by a pickup truck, was unavailable for comment on his condition on Tuesday.

Jones said the second-year coach had been in considerable pain over the weekend after coaching the Packers win over Cook on Friday from the press box.