Playoff seeding at play against Lowndes

Published 4:07 pm Friday, November 2, 2018

MOULTRIE – Colquitt County has been 10-0 on two occasions since Rush Propst moved east in 2008 to take over the Packers.

And we know how the story ended both of those times.

All three times the Packers have state championships, they have done it with 15-0 records.

In 1994, it was Jim Hughes who directed a particularly salty group of Packers to a perfect season.

Propst did it in 2014 and 2015.

The Packers will qualify for the postseason regardless of whether they win or lose tonight when Lowndes, 7-2 overall and 1-1 in the region, pays a call on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium.

But a win will mean a region title and at least two playoff games in front of the home fans.

And a win would be just what Propst needs, not only to get his team stoked for the final grueling path ahead, but also to help deal with a sad few days around the field house.

Defensive line coach Seneric McCurdy lost his father on Wednesday. And early Thursday morning Pam Hightower, mother of former Packers snapper Noah Hightower and a former student and longtime friend of Propst’s, died at 49 after a long battle with cancer.

The Packers staff and players will play with heavy hearts, Propst said, but a victory over the Vikings will help them better deal with their grief.

And Propst has pointed out clearly that just because Tift County beat Lowndes and the Packers dismantled Tift County, it does not necessarily follow that the Packers should be big favorites on Senior Night at the stadium.

Propst would scoff at the Maxwell computer ratings favoring the Packers by 31.

The Vikings have some holes. They are not as deep as they will be the next two seasons.

But they have a history of mostly close, well-played games with the Packers.

And they have Travis Tisdale.

How good is the Vikings’ senior runner?

So far this season he has rushed for 1,391 yards, including 414 yards on 21 carries in the 71-35 victory over Valdosta.

He has rushed for 2,970 yards and has scored 50 touchdowns as a Viking.

Tisdale is a legitimate 10.5 100-meters guy and he has history of playing well against the Packers.

He caught two touchdown passes in the Vikings 51-45 win at Martin Stadium last year. And in 2016, as a sophomore, he torched the Packers for 163 yards on the ground.

As if Propst wasn’t having enough trouble sleeping this week, he has to be concerned about the Vikings’ No. 6.

“We have got to close off the gaps,” Propst says. “We can’t let Tisdale find the seams. Gap control is a key. We’ve got to tackle well and not give up any long runs.”

And Propst is plenty familiar with Randy McPherson’s M.O. He knows the veteran Vikings coach will have something up his crimson sleeve.

“We’ve got to prevent the trick plays,” Propst said of one of the wrinkles he expects to see. “He is going to have some unbalanced lines and different formations and will try to throw some seam balls down the field. And they will use some play-action.”

The Vikings have used lanky freshman quarterback Jacurri Brown with some success, but also showed off junior Joe Almond, who ran well in the second half in the win over Camden County last week.

Neither quarterback would find much comfort in watching what the Packers defense did to Tift County quarterback Patrick Felton last Friday night.

Felton was swarmed relentlessly and rarely had time to set his feet to throw. When he did have a moment, he could not find a receiver. He had just four completions against the Packers, none in the second half.

The front three that was particularly insulting to Felton last Friday included Quay Haynes, Michael Roberts and Brian Merritt.

The 5-foot-11, 305-pound Merritt played as if there were college football scholarships on the line. He particularly never gave Felton a chance to look for a secondary receiver.

The linebackers were just as impressive.

Camari Louis had an interception. Will linebacker Marcus Anderson was everywhere. Middle linebacker Kendrick Neloms had his hands on Felton all night. Buck linebacker Rashard Revels, the team’s leading tackler, played pretty much as he has all season. Even Samari Louis, the rover, got in on the fun.

Tift receiver Tyler Ajiero went into the game leading the region in pass receptions. He had one on the first play of the game, but not another.

Cornerback Jay Ward and Nyquan Washington allowed the Tift receivers no room to maneuver.

Starting free safety Kamrin Woods played well. Akeem McKiever, Woods’s relief, also had an interception.

The Packers defense ranks No. 1 in Class 7A in points allowed with 81. Colquitt showed why in the effort against Tift County.

Propst would like, obviously, a similar effort tonight.

“We’ve got to put them in some second and third and longs and not let them control the clock,” Prospt said. “Randy is going to want to control the clock. He’ll go for it on third-and-short and fourth-and-short.

“We have got to be good in short yardage.”

When the Packers have the ball, they must be successful on first down, Propst says, and cobble together some long drives.

“We haven’t been doing well on first down,” he said. “We have had a lot of big plays. But we want to be successful on first down and get some second- and third-and-manageables and be able to grind it out.”

Propst also says his team has been converting about 45 percent of its third-down opportunities and he’d like to see that figure go up to 55 percent or 60 percent.

“If we’re good on first down and execute our offense, we’ll be fine,” he said.

The Packers will send out an offense that includes center Will Rykard, guards Kameren Barnes and Jerick Davis and tackles Kamaar Bell and Remon Young.

Josh Hadley, the Packers leading receiver with 18 receptions, will be the tight end. KT Wilson and Marvion McDonald will be the wide receivers with Tyler Walker, who scored on an 80-yard pass play from quarterback Jaycee Harden on the first play against Tift County, will be the inside receiver.

Edwards, who has rushed for 961 yards and scored 18 touchdowns, will get plenty of carries. Ty Leggett has rushed for 535 yards and seven scores and gives the Packers a potent running back tandem.

Colquitt used both players in the backfield at the same time for the first time this season against Tift.

Harden has completed 93-of-156 passes for 1,517 yards and 16 touchdowns this season.

Propst wants his team to stay away from fumbles, interceptions and penalties.

Although the Packers overwhelmed the Blue Devils last week, they still lost three fumbles and threw an interception.

And some of the major penalties that were not consequential against the Blue Devils could be against the Vikings.

“We have got to quit playing bad football,” he said. “We just cannot be undisciplined.”

If the game is close, the Packers could have an advantage with All-State place-kicker Ryan Fitzgerald, who has not missed an extra point and has kicked 10 field goals this season.

Kaleb Spradley is the long snapper and Tucker Pitts is the holder for extra point and field goal attempts.

Montavious Ponder and freshman Tahj Sanders have been the punt returners. Ponder and Leggett have been the kickoff returners.

Propst said he and his staff will have be psychiatrists as well as coaches in the coming weeks as they try to keep the 9-0 team from becoming complacent.

“Complacency brings disaster,” he said.

PACKERS NOTES: Also tonight, Tift County will travel to Camden County. … Propst noted that former Packer Jamiyus Pittman was moved from the Miami Dolphins active roster to its practice squad this week. Pittman had been active for two games.