MOULTRIE – Colquitt County football coach Rush Propst weighed in last week about how difficult his team’s 2017 schedule would be after Bishop Sullivan Catholic from Chesapeake, Va., was a late addition.

The Georgia High School Football Daily’s preseason polls released on Monday shows the caliber of program Propst built in nine years in Moultrie. If his team can maintain this early assessment, it may be his best one-season job of coaching ever.

The Packers are ranked No. 2 in Class 7A in the GHSF Daily poll behind defending state champion Grayson, the team that eliminated the Packers in the quarterfinals last fall.

To justify that ranking, a young Colquitt County team with just 18 seniors on its roster must do it against a brutal schedule.

Norcross, the team the Packers will face Saturday in the season-opening Corky Kell Classic in Atlanta, is one of six Colquitt County opponents ranked by the GHSF Daily in its preseason top 10 of their Georgia classifications.

The Blue Devils, who eliminated the Packers in the state semifinals in 2012 and 2013 and went on to win state championships, were 11-1 last year and are ranked No. 9 in Class 7A.

After a short week of preparation the following week, the Packers will play its home opener against Vista Murrieta, which is flying in from California to get a taste of Georgia high school football.

The Broncos, who replaced American Heritage on this year’s schedule, is ranked No. 24 in California. The Broncos were 9-3 last year, but won their section championship in 2011 and played for it six other times since 2009.

Vista Murrieta is playing for the second season under David Olsen, who replaced Coley Candaele, who stepped down after the 2015 season with a 132-25 record.

Colquitt also will be on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium the next two Friday nights, playing host to Tucker, which is ranked No. 1 in Class 6A, and then Roswell, No. 3 in Class 7A.

Tucker defeated the Packers 21-20 last season in Moultrie. The Tigers went 11-2, losing only to Kell in their opener (Corky Kell Classic) and to Valdosta in the state championship game.

Roswell, avenging a loss to the Packers in the 2015 state championship game, won 34-3 in the Hornets’ Nest last fall and went on to finish 14-1, losing to Grayson in overtime in the state championship game.

Colquitt will then travel to Brookwood, No. 6 in Class 7A. Those Broncos might have more than the normal desire to play well after falling 52-14 and 66-35 to the Packers last season.

Colquitt will be home on Sept. 22 to play host to defending Class 6A champion and longtime opponent Valdosta. The Packers dealt the Wildcats their only regular-season loss last season, winning 45-24 on Cleveland Field at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium last year.

That game featured Shawn Shamburger’s 100-yard interception return for a touchdown.

The Packers at least caught a break before the playoffs began last year when they played the International School of Broward County (Fla.), which went 0-9. Colquitt won 56-24.

But that spot in the schedule has been filled by Bishop Sullivan, ranked by MaxPreps as the No. 1 Catholic high school football program in the state.

The Crusaders were 7-3 last season.

Only two of the Packers eight Georgia opponents are unranked: Camden County, which will play its first season under former successful North Gwinnett coach Bob Sphire, and Tift County. These are Region 1-7A opponents.

The Wildcats were 2-7 last year under Welton Coffey and did not make the playoffs. The Blue Devils were 5-6, going to the postseason as the No. 3 team from Region 1. They were swamped by North Cobb 35-7 in the first round.

Despite their records last year, neither one is expected to be in the ISB category.

The other ranked team on the Packer schedule is, of course, Lowndes, listed No. 4 in Class 7A after going 10-3 and reaching the quarterfinals last season.

The Vikings, who fell to the Packers 42-35 last season in one of the most exciting Packers victories in a number of years, will try to get even at Martin Stadium on Oct. 27 in the two teams’ regular-season finale.

It took the Packers four games – losses to Mill Creek, American Heritage, Tucker and Roswell – to get their feet under them last fall before embarking on an eight-game winning streak and an eventual 8-5 record.

The footing could be even more treacherous this season.