Ricky Dunbar (98) and the rest of the Colquitt County front seven will have to put the heat on McEachern quarterback Bailey Hockman in Friday’s state semifinal at the stadium. Above, Dunbar tracks down Milton quarterback Austin McLeod in the Packers 42-35 win last Friday.

MOULTRIE – The two teams that will meet at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium in one of the Class AAAAAA semifinals have been there before.

In fact, both McEachern and Colquitt County were in the semifinals last year, with the Indians losing to North Gwinnett and the Packers falling 14-9 to eventual state champion Norcross.

One will advance this week to play in the Dec. 13 state championship game at the Georgia Dome.

McEachern has never won a state championship. The Packers have just one, claimed 20 years ago when the 1994 team led by coach Jim Hughes went 15-0.

McEachern is trying to get to the championship game for the first time since 1998, when coach Jimmy Dorsey took his team south to meet Valdosta for the title. The Wildcats won 21-7 and the Indians have not reached Game 15 since then.

In 1998, the state semifinals, not the championship games, were played at the Georgia Dome. McEachern knocked off Colquitt County 35-14 that season in one semifinal for the opportunity to travel for Cleveland Field for the championship game.

The Indians will bring a 10-3 record to Moultrie on Friday as they try to spoil the Packers 13-0 season.

After losing outstanding all-purpose runner and Oregon committed Taj Griffin to a knee injury in the season-opening loss to North Gwinnett in the Corky Kell Classic, McEachern dropped its second game as well, falling to Buford, 27-20.

But the Indians rebounded and won seven straight before falling to Hillgrove 42-37 in the season finale to claim the No. 2 seed from Region 4.

They have played exceedingly well since the playoffs began, ousting East Coweta 23-3, Alpharetta 44-14 and, last Friday at Hallford Stadium in Clarkston, pounding Tucker 62-36.

Although Griffin will not play, the Indians have other outstanding performers.

Quarterback Bailey Hockman threw for 435 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another in the win over Tucker.  Just a sophomore, he has thrown for 3,232 yards and 40 touchdowns this season. The left-hander reportedly has offers from Alabama, Florida State and Tennessee

T.J. Rahming had six catches for 258 yards and three scores. He also returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown. He has 63 receptions this season for 1,431 yards and 18 touchdowns. Tyler Smith, also a sophomore, has 1,100 receiving yards and has scored 18 times.

McEachern also has offensive lineman Chuma Edoga, who has committed to Southern California; lineman Chandler Jones, who has committed to Louisville; and four-star junior tackle Julian Rochester.

“I’m just proud of our guys,” McEachern head coach Kyle Hockman told the Marietta Daily Journal. “They just kept fighting through all of the adversity, the different things going on through the season, an injury or two and a loss or two.”

Hockman is in his seventh season as the McEachern head coach and has led the Indians to 64-19 record. This the first time McEachern has ever made the state semifinals two years in a row.

He should be somewhat aware of what lies in store for his team on Friday.

Colquitt County and McEachern met at Walter Cantrell Stadium in the first round in 2012 and the Packers came away with a 30-28 victory.

Colquitt County held off a late McEachern rally and an interception by then-sophomore linebacker Bull Barge in the closing seconds clinched the victory.

PACKERS NOTES: With his 135 yards and two touchdowns rushing against Milton, Colquitt County’s  Sihiem King has moved into second-place on the Packers all-time rushing list with 3,481 yards. He is just 179 yards behind career leader Nathan Williams, who ran for 3,660 from 1989-1991.

King also has 1,790 yards for the season and is just 257 yards behind the school record of 2,047 set by his brother Tevin King in 2010. Sihiem, with 34 touchdowns this season, trails Tevin for most touchdowns in a season. Tevin had 37 in 2010.

Junior Kiel Pollard became the Packers all-time receiving yardage leader against Milton. He now has 1,739, passing Bobby Hill, who had 1,713 from 2011-2012.

Pollard now has 114 career receptions, just seven behind the school record of 121, also held by Hill.

And with his scoring catch against Milton, Pollard moves into second place in the career touchdown reception list with 16. The leader is Carlos Johnson, who had 21 from 1994-1996.

Chase Parrish has thrown for 2,534 yards this season, second-most by a Packer. Tyler Brown holds the record for throwing for 3,358 in 2010.

Hoover (Ala.) High will meet Prattville on Wednesday at Auburn for the Alabama Class 7A state championship.

The Bucs have not lost since falling 35-14 to Colquitt County on Aug. 29 in Moultrie.

Hoover defeated Gadsden City 42-7 to reach the championship game.

Colquitt County is ranked No. 5 in the USA Today poll and No. 7 in the Max Preps poll.

Speculation about whether Colquitt County’s Rush Propst might get the Troy head coach job ended when Neal Brown was named succeed  Larry Blakeney, who retired after 24 seasons.

Propst, who spent most of his career coaching in Alabama before coming to Moultrie in 2008, said he had not actively pursued the Troy job.

Former Packer Tevin King rushed for 21 yards and had a kickoff return of 55 yards when Louisiana Tech defeated Rice 76-31 last Saturday.

Louisiana Tech, now 8-4, will travel to Huntington, W.Va., on Saturday to meet Marshall for the Conference USA championship.

Southern Conference champion UT-Chattanooga will play a first-round playoff game at home on Saturday against Indiana State.

Tommy Hudson leads the Mocs in receiving with 35 catches  for 503 yards and five touchdowns.