TIFTON – Take your pick on what was more impressive.

Daijun Edwards rushed 14 times for 182 yards and four straight touchdowns for Colquitt County High. Whether it was his running of the football, or the 224 passing yards on 12 completions for quarterback Jaycee Harden, either one could say he out-did all of Tift County High’s Blue Devils by himself Friday at Brodie Field.

Tift County, coming off a 21-17 win at Lowndes and thinking about last year’s 38-35 triumph in Moultrie last year, mustered 110 total yards on the Packer defense. The 7A No. 1 Colquitt club has No. 1 in Region 1-7A – with all the state home games that come with it – in full sites after crushing Tift 45-7.

At 9-0, Colquitt will go for the perfect 10 regular season this upcoming weekend on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium. The opponent, Lowndes, won for the first time in region play – barely – by a point against Camden County in Valdosta (see related story).

On Brodie’s grass field, Harden tossed two touchdown passes, one of 80 yards on a play-action dump off in the flat to Tyler Walker on the game’s first snap.

Tift County countered that with a little bit of a longer series, but still 80 yards. Patrick Felton hit a pass up top to Tyler Ajiero of 35 yards, and then the senior transfer quarterback kept for a 37-yard run to score and tie the game 7-7 at 9:44 of the opening quarter.

After that, it was all Edwards and nothing from the likes of Felton and Ajiero, who partnered for 205 yards passing and three touchdowns last weekend in the win over Lowndes. They found more than their offensive front could handle from a Packer defense led by the likes of end Brian Merritt and middle linebacker Marcus Anderson. After the 80-yard drive for Tift, the Blue Devils had 29 yards the rest of the half.

The second half was even worse, one yard netted by Tift. The two first downs after scoring those early points were all the hosts earned until the end. That’s in a second half with a slew of turnovers committed by both sides.

Tift also missed two field goals in the first half.

One player who hardly showed up for the Blue Devils was running back Mike Jones, a 200-yard rusher in that 2017 victory over the Packers. This time around, only 14 for the senior. When Tift is in Packer ground on its second drive, he was tripped up for no gain by linebacker Rashad Revels, who also helped Merritt hold down Felton at the line, which was the Packer 37.

Rosendo Ramirez missed the 54-yard try short.

Edwards first scored a five-yarder at 2:18 of the opening quarter in a series where the Packers converted third-down three times and actually traveled 92 yards. On 3rd-and-22 on the 8, Edwards willed his way to the 34 and moved the chains.

Harden, on a play-fake, found all kinds of room to rush to the Tift 43. He then went up top on 3rd-and-4 to KT Wilson for 27 yards to the TC 10.

In the second period, Colquitt drove 36 yards in just two plays with a Harden completion to Lemeke Brockington of 21 yards and Edwards’ 7-yard touchdown (21-7 Packers).

LaQuavion Haynes got into the act on tackles for a loss, and Tift’s struggles to punt the football in the wind resulted in a spot for the Packers on the 28-yard-line. Edwards showed patience and desire to score off right end from 27 away at the 10-minute mark of the quarter (28-7).

Merritt’s side was dominating Tift’s offensive line, and Kamaar Bell, Will Rykard, Kameren Barnes, Conner Gay, Jerick Davis, Remon Young and Devene Jamerson had no issues with a stout defensive front from Tift.

In one lone highlight, K.D. McDaniel, a defensive end committed to Kentucky, sacked Harden in the first half.

With 10 minutes still to go until intermission, Samari Louis and Kendrick Neloms were all over the Blue Devil ball carriers.

Never mind that the Packers lost a punt return, for it was just three more short gains and another TC punt. Colquitt’s lead stood when Ramirez missed his second field-goal try (of 37 yards wide right).

Ryan Fitzgerald – sporting No. 43 in honor of the family of former long snapper Noah Hightower – made a 29-yard field goal on the final play for 31-7 at the break. It was the eighth snap of a series featuring spin moves by Edwards for 12 yards on his lone reception and 20 more yards on a grab for Brockington.

The only thing Rush Propst could see as a first-half blemish was in the penalty department, six flags on the Packers for 68 yards.

Akeem McKiever, playing the dog position with safety Kam Woods suffering an injury in the game Camari Louis shifting to free safety, intercepted Felton early in the second half. He returned the football to the TC 16, but Colquitt gave that back on Walt Jackson’s pick.

Felton was under so much pressure the first time he threw deep with bad results, and it was no different when Camari Louis next intercepted Felton.

With Harden’s lost fumble to Antonio Howard two plays later, it was four turnovers in less than three minutes.

As the third period progressed, Merritt had Felton going the wrong way and Anderson sacked the QB.

Edwards scored for the fourth time when he broke tackles in the secondary and scampered 61 yards to the goal line at 4:06. Fitzgerald went 5-for-5 on the PAT.

In the third quarter, Tift ran 17 plays, including one with intentional grounding.

Harden capped things off the final quarter when his offense took the field on its 7-yard-line. Mar’kaybion Spradley ran eight times for 43 yards, and Harden found Ja’Naz Graves on a 32-yard deep touchdown strike at 4:45.