MOULTRIE – Ty Lee has received a pair of conference honors for his outstanding play as a freshman at Middle Tennessee State this year.

The former Packer receiver was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman team and received honorable mention on the All-Conference team.

Lee has caught 53 passes for 599 yards and seven touchdowns for the 8-4 Blue Raiders. Those 53 receptions ranked fifth in the nation among freshmen. He can add to that total when Middle Tennessee meets Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl, which will be played at 8 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be telecast on ESPN.

Of this and that:

• Colquitt County’s Jamiyus Pittman saw his junior season come to an end when Central Florida fell to Arkansas State 31-13 last Saturday in the Cure Bowl in Orlando.

The former Packer, who starts at nose guard for the Knights, had one solo tackle and three assists in the game.

Pittman finished the season with 14 solo and 14 assisted tackles, including 4.5 for loss and two sacks.

His most productive game came against Temple when he was credited with eight total tackles.

• Two former Packers will be opposing sidelines in the Birmingham Bowl, which will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 29, at the Birmingham Bowl. It also will be televised by ESPN.

South Carolina, where receiver Kiel Pollard is playing, will meet South Florida, collegiate home of cornerback Johnny Ward.

Willie Taggert has left South Florida to take over as head coach at Oregon, leaving assistant T.J. Weist to lead the 10-2 Bulls against the 6-6 Gamecocks. Former Texas coach Charlie Strong has been named the Bulls head coach. He will take over following the bowl game.

• Dondray Copeland’s career at The Citadel came to an end when the Bulldogs fell to Wofford in the second round of the FCS (I-AA) playoffs.

The former Packer from Doerun had 15 solo and 18 assisted tackles in his senior year at The Citadel, where he played both safety and linebacker during his career.

• Other former Packers who will compete in bowl games are Sihiem King, whose Kentucky team will meet Georgia Tech in the Dec. 31 TaxSlayer Bowl; Bull Barge, who plays at South Alabama, which will meet the Air Force Academy in the Dec. 30 Arizona Bowl; T.J. Smith and Dee Walker, whose Arkansas Razorbacks will meet Virginia Tech in the Dec. 29 Belk Bowl in Charlotte, N.C.; Jay Blakely, whose Tennessee Volunteer will meet Nebraska on Dec. 30 in the Music City Bowl; and Shaun Bonner, who is a member of the Indiana team that will play Utah in the Dec. 28 Foster Farms Bowl.

• Former Colquitt County assistant Rico Zackery has been named the head coach at Villa Rica.

After working for the Packers in 2010, Zackery was the defensive coordinator for two seasons and the head coach for three years at Central of Carrollton, posting a 30-6 record.

He spent the last two seasons at Georgia Southern, where he was the director of recruiting operations.

Zackery succeeds Chad Frazier who went 17-24 in four seasons.

The Wildcats play in Region 7-5A.

• Makeba Ponder is averaging 5.1 points a game for the Georgia State women’s basketball team and Dexshaylen Polite is averaging 5.8 points for St. Petersburgh College. Ponder scored a team-high 15 points in the Panthers’ recent 80-57 loss at the University of Alabama.

• Abbi Beth Paulk, who played basketball the last two seasons at Brewton Parker College, is now playing on the Barons women’s soccer team.

• Linebacker Quintin Hampton finished his first season at Wagner College by contributing 74 total tackles, second-most on the team, including 9.5 tackles for loss and five sacks. Hampton is a sophomore starter for the Seahawks.