Willie DeBruce and Brian Merrett in on the tackle of North Paulding's Mitchell Friday in the Colquitt County High first-round playoff win.

By Matthew Brown

matthew.brown@gaflnews.com

MOULTRIE – The theme for a highlight reel could be “Broken Tackles.” Or, “Broken Players.”

Cam Singletary and Xavier Powell each scored highlight touchdowns on catches from quarterback Jay Saunders, and everyone in the secondary from Tirise Barge and Javarious Thomas put the ‘Wow’ hits on North Paulding Wolfpack members for Colquitt County High’s Packers Friday on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium. Two weeks after winning the Region 1-7A championship over Lowndes High, Rush Propst and Colquitt County opened the 2016 Class 7A playoffs – and the pursuit of a third state title in a row – by whipping North Paulding 48-7.

Saunders, only playing up to the last five minutes of the third quarter, completed 12 of 18 passes for 252 yards. Ten of the completions and 220 of the yards were in the first half. Freshman Daijun Edwards ran for 98 yards on 11 carries with two second-half touchdowns.

Powell, a senior, caught four passes for 108 yards, and all of that was in the first half. Yes, Singletary also amassed all of his statistics – three catches for 85 yards – in the first half. Each one had two touchdowns, one from Powell coming in the running game.

“That was fun,” said Powell. “Running the ball is fun. In my head all week, every time they called a play, I was thinking end zone. I’m going to score. When they call this play, I’m going to score.”

Powell had his fun capping off Colquitt’s opening series, one that involved some bold moves by Saunders and his coach, Propst. North Paulding’s Jaylen Parks knocked down the first pass, a tunnel screen, but the Packers advanced from their 34 to the Wolfpack 48. The first of 10 penalties called on Colquitt during the half set it back to 3rd-and-9 on its 47, and Saunders put them at 4th-and-2.

No punting unit, though, for Saunders faked the option pitch and got first down on the NP 41. Two of the next three plays were catches by Powell and Singletary up to the 14, and then Powell went around left end for the touchdown. With the Ryan Fitzgerald PAT, the Packers were up 7-0 at 8:40.

On the defensive side, Colquitt made numerous adjustments play-by-play as North Paulding used everything from a wildcat package with Brian Mitchell taking the snaps to five wides. Willie DeBruce had the assignment of middle linebacker in that spread, and he got to quarterback Ross Malmgren on a 3rd-and-9.

“We had a good week of preparation, and the guys bought into the plan, and executed,” said defensive coordinator Bubba Walker.

North Paulding had just one first down in the first quarter. The Wolfpack had possession as the game moved into the second and were still only down 7-0 when two penalties in the passing game provided two first downs and a spot to their 46. That’s when junior J.J. Peterson, on the edge, corralled Zion Hawkins on the jet sweep (loss of seven) and sacked Malmgren (loss of nine).

Taking a punt on the 50, the Packers only needed two plays to get back on the scoreboard. At 8:42, Singletary crossed the field after a reception and got a lot of help on the way to six points.

“It was just a little something where I saw them coming, so I just kept cutting,” said Singletary. “I saw open space, so I kept it going. No. 17, key block.”

“I didn’t expect him to break like that,” said Powell (No. 17). “Once I saw him my way, I was just looking for somebody to kill.”

And it’s the kind of move Singletary makes on the hardwood as the soon-to-be third-year starting basketball point guard.

It was 13-0, however, due to missing the two-point try.

With DeBruce breaking up the bubble screen for no gain, and Malmgren succumbing to the third-down blitzes, the next Wolfpack series ended three-and-out. The ensuing series for Saunders and company began on their 15 due to penalty, but Edwards and Ty Leggett rumbled them towards midfield in three plays. With guard Quan Stokes putting up a wall, Leggett went 11 yards to the NP 47.

Powell gained 24 more yards through the air, and Singletary broke open to score his second touchdown, a 32-yarder, at 4:26 until halftime. Going for two again, Saunders this time hit Tory Ponder open to make it 21-0.

Though Malmgren entered the game a 2,000-yard passer for North Paulding, Mitchell ended up out-doing him from the wildcat. The only time the Wolfpack got on the scoreboard in Moultrie was on a late first-half drive of 80 yards, and Mitchell connected with big receiver Chad Terrell for 35 yards at the 50. On 3rd-and-6, Tyler Bird sprung open over the middle for 36 yards.

Malmgren returned to the shotgun formation on 2nd-and-10 on the Packer 13 and went with the fade pass to the 6-4 Terrell. He scored the touchdown with 1:08 remaining before the break.

Colquitt County’s answer was a one-play drive, 64 yards, and the touchdown from Saunders to Powell. It’s where Powell broke free from a crowd of defenders on the NP 40 and shot forward to the end zone.

“When I caught the ball, my head was ‘get to the end zone,'” said Powell, who was also close to the visiting sideline. “We saw film on them and knew they weren’t real good tackling. Once I got the ball, keep my feet moving. Don’t stop. I was real close to stepping out of bounds, did a little tap dance on the sidelines staying in. They were trying to surround instead of tackle, so I got good balance and stayed in.”

Fitzgerald added his PAT kick for 28-7 at halftime.

For the third quarter, it was about grinding out a Packer running game and, as the saying goes, ‘laying the wood’ on defense.

“I’ve been waiting on some of those,” said Walker. “I’m excited for them. They’re just doing what they’re coached to do, and those things happen. They are getting better at that; we have to keep getting better.”

With Peterson mauling back Lucas Mays, the opening Wolfpack series ended three-and-out. The offense took its turn going 63 yards with third-down catches made by Ponder up to the NP 23. From there, Edwards got his blocks from Tyler Howard and slipped more tackling efforts on the 10 to score at 9:06.

Fitzgerald kicked Colquitt to the lead of 35-7.

Jordan Veneziale of the Wolfpack intercepted the football after Shawn Shamburger’s 20-yard punt return. North Paulding started on its 31, received 15 more penalty yards, but then Mays suffered the smash hit from Barge while catching a screen pass. The Wolfpack had no choice but to go for a fourth-down conversion, but snapped the football high on its 44.

From there, Leggett plowed ahead 30 yards inside the ‘red zone,’ and three plays later Edwards had his second touchdown – a 6-yarder –at 4:41.

Looking at a 41-7 lead, Thomas laid a pop against Mitchell that took away seven yards. In the fourth period, the senior backup and special teamer intercepted Malmgren.

“He’s a guy who hasn’t played much football in his life,” said Walker of Thomas. “He’s been learning the game. He’s very athletic. He’s a solid guy for us. He’s made some mistakes throughout the season because he hasn’t played, but he’s learning.”

The fourth quarter also featured a punt of 59 yards from John Samuel Shenker and a touchdown pass from Steven Krajewski to Ka’Marious Wilson of 16 yards with 42 seconds to play.

Colquitt’s second round opponent will be Brookwood, a first-round winner over West Forsyth Friday, at home. The Packers ended 0-4 season start at Brookwood’s expense and began the current seven-game winning streak also at home on Sept. 16.