TIFTON – One shootout wasn’t enough for the Colquitt County and Tift County soccer fans Friday at the home of the Blue Devils. But the visiting Packers couldn’t make it a sweep, and they couldn’t maintain their unbeaten 2017 season as the penalty-kick contest went to Tift 5-4 after 0-0 regulation and overtime play.

It was Tift’s second straight home win against a club with a winning record, for the Blue Devils upended Houston County on Feb. 28 2-0. (The Packers played Houston to a draw in Warner Robins on Feb. 11.) This was also each team’s first Region 1-7A match.

The Blue Devils went a perfect 5-for-5 in the Friday shootout. Colquitt connected in every round but No. 2. The four points came from Isaac Malagon, Carlos Landa, Bryan Galardo and Raymon Garcia.

Regulation play was a festival of free kicks and yellow cards with play centered on the center of the field. It was also a match where Packer goalkeeper Blayton Duncan came up big when needed. He saved the ball going to his knees at 36:25 of the first half when the Devils took a 50-50 ball into the box.

Colquitt followed up with about three free kicks in a row, one of nearly 40 yards by Eric Leon caught at the net. Another was a knock-away save to the right from Tift’s keeper.

In the ninth minute, Tift received the first yellow card. Will Barber and Garcia played strong defense all match, the two getting to Tift’s first free kick (28:30).

Jose Moreno – who had three goals in the previous Colquitt match – worked with Paulino Munoz on the break to get the first corner kick at 22:40. Garcia got his head on the ball, but a leaping save resulted.

The Packers earned the yellow card too, the first at 20:02. The strikers, however, on either side were not getting any looks for about 10 minutes, then Moreno led Munoz for a left-to-right angle shot missing wide (9:20). More crashes and collisions ensued, Leon executed the sliding tackle, Malagon and Emmanuel Rodriguez smashed key clears. One more yellow was issued on Colquitt at 2:26, plus one on Tift in the closing seconds.

Each side received the card early in the second half, and Galardo made Colquitt’s first shot saved at 31:54. The Munoz and Moreno combination tried to cross the ball in the box, but Galardo couldn’t get to it at 26:45. Barber found himself running step for step with Tift’s attacker, and that forced a high shot at 24:30.

Ruben Gonzalez came up with a pair of steals that led to nothing for the Packers. Rodriguez blocked the ball using his head. That led to a rush by Moreno to Galardo with under 21 minutes to play. The result was a corner kick cleared by Tift.

Colquitt received one more yellow card at 17:05, but with under 11 minutes to play Galardo took an online free kick defended away. The Packers fouled on the corner kick but regained the ball for a move by Gonzalez. He worked past two defenders, but his shot was saved.

Duncan saved the scoreless deadlock at 1:25, and he would continue with those type of heroic efforts in overtime. He had two plays in the first five extra minutes, one using his feet. The Blue Devils were the aggressors with the ball, but Landa and Malagon came through in the box in the second OT and Barber made two clearing kicks in a row.