MOULTRIE – One of the traditions of the U.S. Army All-American football game for high school players is the chance for uncommitted prospects to make their announcement during the telecast from San Antonio.

JJ Peterson, the first Colquitt County High player to make the game, took that opportunity Saturday to commit to the University of Tennessee.

Peterson, an outside linebacker who played some wide receiver and returned kickoffs during his career with the Packers, is ranked the No. 44 player in the nation by 247 Sports Composite. Two other of his former Colquitt County defensive teammates, Ja’Quain Barkley and Shawn Shamburger, currently play for Tennessee.

Most notably, however, is that during the offseason Tennessee hired Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt as its head coach. Alabama was long considered the front-runner for Peterson. Pruitt was also once an assistant under Rush Propst at Hoover High, Propst having been Peterson’s coach during his play at Colquitt County.

A big reason why the 2017 Packers reached the GHSA Class 7A championship game as a region No. 3 seed, Peterson had more than 110 total tackles on the season, more than 20 tackles for a loss and a memorable quarterback sack on the last North Gwinnett drive of the final.