MOULTRIE — Three Region 1-AAAAA teams – champion Tift County, No. 3 Coffee and No. 4 Houston County – will open the playoffs tonight and No. 2 Warner Robins will get into action at home on Saturday.

The Blue Devils (5-1, 9-1) will play host to East Coweta (3-3, 6-4), the No. 4 team from Region 4-AAAAA; Coffee (4-2, 8-2) will travel to Hiram (5-1, 7-3); and Houston County (3-3, 6-4) will go on the road to meet Region 4-AAAAA champion Newnan (5-1, 7-3).

Warner Robins (4-2, 6-4) will meet Mundy’s Mill (4-2, 5-5).

And while Colquitt County did not qualify for the playoffs this year, three former Packers are helping get their teams ready for the first round of playoff action.

Dodge County head coach, and former Packers quarterback, Greg Robinson will have his Indians playing host to a state playoff game for the first time since 1999 when Thomasville visits Eastman tonight.

Norcross, 10-0 and ranked No. 1 in Class AAAAA, will open the playoffs at home against Walton, hoping to get continued production from its outstanding wide receiver trio of Devonta Bolton, Darius Hanks and Brice Butler, who are coached by Reggie Stancil, another former Packers quarterback.

And over in Waycross, Region 3-AAAA champion Ware County will meet Starr’s Mill tonight after winning the region title by shutting out defending state champion and No. 2- ranked Statesboro last Friday 20-0. The Gators defensive coordinator is Jimmy Francis, who held the same position for Colquitt County under Mike Singletary. The team’s running backs coach is Paul Callahan, another former Packer assistant coach.

Callahan is part of an offensive staff that has helped the Gators average 28.9 points a game and 33.6 points in the team’s current seven-game winning streak.

Francis said he had no idea the Gators would be able to shut out Statesboro.

“No, not at all,” the Packers former defensive coordinator and secondary coach said this week. “But the kids played great. They did exactly what we wanted them to do.”

Despite an undersized defense that includes 5-foot-9, 160 pound tackle Jeremy Boyd, Ware County finished 8-2 overall and 8-1 in Region 3-AAAA. After back-to-back losses to Lowndes and Effingham in Weeks 2 and 3, the Gators have won seven in a row and finally cracked The Associated Press top 10, tying for No. 8 in the state with Dacula.

And while Starr’s Mill, which dropped down to Class AAAA this year after a 2005 Class AAAAA playoff run that included a 16-14 second-round victory over Colquitt County, is 7-3 overall and 5-3 in Region 2, Francis said his team is not taking the Panthers lightly.

“They are not a No. 4 team, by no means,” Francis said.

Francis, who has suffered from Crohn’s disease for a number of years, said he had surgery in May and has been in good health since.

“I feel fine,” he said.

Robinson’s Indians already have the school’s first eight-win season since 1999 and will be hosting its first state playoff game since that year.

Dodge County also reached the Region 2-AA championship game last week, but could not handle unbeaten Dublin, losing 38-0.

In fact, the Indians only two losses have come to Fitzgerald, ranked No. 4 in Class AA, and Dublin, ranked No. 3 in the state.

Although 5-5 Thomasville is riding a three-game losing streak, Robinson is wary of the Region 1-AA Bulldogs.

“We’ve got to play well,” he said. “They’ve got good size, good speed. We can’t make any mistakes against them.”

The Indians are still young on the offensive line, Robinson said, but he still plans to try to keep the ball on the ground.

Robinson is in his fifth season as the Dodge County head coach, succeeding another coach with Colquitt County ties, John Peacock.

A former Pineland School head football coach, Peacock is retired from coaching, but is teaching at the state prison, Robinson said.

Dodge went through two rough years when Robinson took over (“We knew we would,” he said.), but the Indians were 7-3 in 2004 and 7-4 last year.

“We’re getting a little better each year,” said Robinson, who has been at Dodge County for 13 years, including eight as an assistant to Peacock.

If the Indians can get by the Bulldogs tonight, they could be facing Class AA’s No. 1 team next.

The bracket is drawn such that the Dodge County-Thomasville winner will play the Charlton County-Screven County winner.

Unranked Screven would have to be a big underdog to Charlton, which is undefeated at 10-0.

Stancil, who as the Colquitt County quarterback led the Packers to the state quarterfinals in 1996 and the state semifinals in 1997, is with his fourth school in as many years as an assistant coach.

But he sounds as if he may have found a home in Norcross.

Since graduated from Jacksonville State in Alabama where he quarterbacked the school’s football team, Stancil coached at Morrow, Northside-Warner Robins and Lithonia before he off-handedly sent his resume to Norcross head coach Keith Maloof last spring.

Maloof was impressed with the resume, called Stancil for an interview and offered him the job as the varsity receivers coach.

Stancil also will be the school’s junior varsity baseball coach and worked with the baseball team last summer.

“I think I’ve finally found a place I can call home,” Stancil said.

Stancil certainly landed in a good situation.

The Norcross football team was 7-4 last year, returned 16 starters for 2006 and proceeded to win the Region 7-AAAAA championship.

While several teams, including Colquitt County, held down the top spot in Class AAAAA this season, the Blue Devils quietly went about their business and have won all 10 of their games as they prepare to meet Walton at home tonight.

“This is a great situation,” Stancil said. “There’s a lot of talent here. And it’s like one big family.”

Much of the Norcross success has been attributed to its offense, led by senior quarterback Bryce Dykes and the outstanding receiving corps.

Dykes has started at quarterback the last two seasons after starting at free safety as a sophomore.

He has plenty of options when he goes back to pass.

The Blue Devils have one of the best receiver combinations in the state in senior Darius Hanks and junior Bruce Butler.

The two have combined for 53 catches for 874 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season.

Butler is the son of former Atlanta Falcons defensive back Bobby Butler. He’s 6-foot-3 and weighs about 185.

Hanks is a Division I prospect with speed and moves aplenty. He also starts at safety and has several interceptions, one of which he returned 85 yards for a touchdown.

If those two weren’t intimidating enough for opposing defenses, Norcross also has Devonta Bolton, a 6-foot-3, 210-pounder with 4.6 speed.

Even Sam Snider, the team’s punter, gets in the pass receiving mix.

Stancil said the Blue Devils, who won just their second region championship this year, are giving Walton plenty of respect.

The Raiders, the No. 4 team from Region 6-AAAAA, are 5-5 this season, but have played 11 or more games in each of the last four seasons.

If Norcross can get by the Raiders, they will meet the North Cobb-Grayson winner, also at home.

But Stancil said the team’s philosophy has been “to go 1-0 every week.”

“We don’t want to look too far ahead,” he said.