Durwood Dominy, left, voice of the Packers on WMTM-FM radio, talks with Packers, from left, Xzavier Ward, Stephen Moore, Tommy Hudson and Garrett Brewer at the pep rally held on the Courthouse Square on Thursday.

 Moments after the Colquitt County football team ran out its 48-47 victory of M.L. King last Friday in Clarkston, word came that Mill Creek had upset South Gwinnett and would be the Packers next opponent.

And the game would be back in Moultrie.

Most folks in South Georgia knew little about the Hawks, other than that they, like the Packers, went into the playoffs with a 5-5 record.

Sure, they were in the quarterfinals now, but they would have to come to Hawg Pen, so, thought many folks, let’s look ahead at who the Pack would play next.

But after the Packers had swapped film with the Mill Creek staff early Saturday morning, much of the euphoria over the prospects of facing the Hawks in today’s 7:30 p.m. Elite Eight game at Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium had faded.

Running back Tevin King, whose 376-yard rushing effort against the Lions last Friday had helped propel the Packers to the next round, said the players were told in no uncertain terms at Saturday’s meetings that Mill Creek was no ordinary 7-5 team.

“Scary” is the work Packers coach Rush Propst has used several times this week to characterize the Hawks.

“This is the kind of team that scares you the most,” said Propst, who will take a 198-72 career record into the game. “They struggled early, just like we did. Then they caught fire. They are a very good football team.”

“A lot of people thought, we are going to beat Mill Creek and Valdosta is going to beat Grayson and we’ll play Valdosta next week. It could very well be Grayson against Valdosta. Trust me, Grayson can beat Valdosta and Mill Creek can beat us if we don’t play our best.”

After winning just three of their first eight, the Hawks have won four in a row with a diverse offense and a big and strong defense.

And Propst said he does not think Mill Creek is at all intimidated about making the program’s first foray into South Georgia.

“I think they are coming down here with a chip on their shoulder,” he said. “They’re saying, ‘We can play football too.’”

After top-ranked Camden County, No. 2-ranked North Gwinnett and No. 4 McEachern were eliminated last week, the chances of each of the remaining eight teams increased.

“I think any one of these eight can win it,” Propst said.

And Mill Creek, one of Class AAAAA’s darkest horses when the playoff started, has stated its case impressively so far.

Two weeks ago, the Hawks defeated Region 5 champion Etowah. Last week, it hung 49 points on South Gwinnett to eliminate the Comets.

Both of those victories came on the road.

And Propst says Mill Creek is not a team his Packers match up well against.

“They have a lot of good athletes and they are very strong,” he said, noting that several have personal trainers to help get them, and keep them, in top shape.

“We will be overmatches physically. They are just stronger than we are. And they haven’t made a lot of mistakes lately.”

The Mill Creek offense is run by John Russ, son of the team’s strength and conditioning coach. The junior quarterback has thrown for 2,076 yards and leads the team in rushing with 839 yards.

The Hawks also have a fine scatback in Devonte Lewis, a fast, hard-running, 260-pound fullback in Tyler Cierski and 6-foot-3 receiver Brandon Hayman, who has caught more than 100 passes the last two seasons.

The offensive line is led by 275-pound tackle Austin Hagan and 230-pound guard A.J. Ruechel.

The Packers defense, which gave up 533 yards, including 522 in the air, in the victory over M.L. King last week, will face a difficult challenge in the diverse Hawks.

The Packers will use Snoop Arnold, Quan Daniels and Wayne Jackson at the ends and Britt Smith, Octavius Jackson, Richard Kinsey and Travis Register at the tackles.

The linebackers will be Rashawn Hunt, Stephen Moore, Quan Nelson and Payne Newsome.

Against M.L. King last week, Stacey “Bowtie” Blackwell and E’Darius Davis started at the corners and Trey Scott was the safety. Ronnie Caldwell and Tre DeBruce also played in the secondary.

As they have in most of their victories, the Packers will likely have to rely on their offense to match Mill Creek score for score and come up with an extra touchdown, field goal or extra point somewhere along the line.

The Packers are averaging 422 yards and 36.6 points a game this season.

They certainly have the playmakers, starting with quarterback Tyler Brown, who has thrown for 2,639 yards and 22 touchdowns this year, while suffering just four interceptions.

King is the Packers all-time single-season rushing leader after last week’s 376-yard effort gave him 1,658 for the season.

 He also had 40 pass receptions and has scored 33 touchdowns

And if the Hawks try to stop King and D’Amonte Ridley, the Packers will feel confident enough to throw downfield to a number of receivers, led by Tommy Hudson, who has a school-record 76 pass receptions this season.

Also expected to be the targets of Brown’s passes for Ty Smith, Blake Stamps, Hayden Kudela, Octavius Jackson and Tre Cooper.

The Mill Creek defense is led by 275-pound sophomore defensive tackle Kelsey Griffin, who has a team-leading 91 tackles. Phillip LeConte has 76.

Hayden Smith leads the Hawks with three interceptions.

The Hawks will be without one of their best players, linebacker Taylor Coelnan, who had shoulder surgery this week.

And although South Gwinnett scored 34 points last week, the defense gave up just 20. The Comets also scored on a kickoff return for a touchdown and a touchdown that came after a blocked punt.

But the Pack will counter with an offensive line that is considered on of the team’s strengths.

Center Bryce Giddens is having an outstanding junior season. He will be flanked by guards Trey Rhymes and Garrett Brewer and tackles Xavier Ward and Preston Mobley.

Tommy Marshall has started and filled in admirably in several places along the line.

Rich Tyndall, who converted all six of his extra point attempts last week, will do the place-kicking out of Stamps’ holds with Jeremy Bell snapping.

Tanner White will do the punting with Alex Littleton snapping.

“I think the key for us will be our crowd,” Propst said, adding the home field advantage could be worth as many as seven points.

Mill Creek Coach Shannon Jarvis knows his team is in for an awakening in Moultrie

“It’s the first trip for any of our kids down south,” Jarvis told The Gwinnett Daily Post this week. “I told our kids, it’s going to be a different atmosphere for them.

“Just the building up to the game is going to be like nothing they’ve every seen, like 70-year-old men who live and die Colquitt County football.”

And while both teams should have no reason not to be motivated for a chance to play in the state semifinals, the Colquitt County players may also have this in the backs of the minds.

With a Packers victory over Mill Creek and a Grayson win over Valdosta, representatives from Colquitt County and Grayson will meet and flip a coin to see which team will play host to the semifinal games.

If the Packers could win that coin toss, they would be back at The Mack for a second straight week.