Tight end Todd Hall was veteran presence for 1994 Packers

Published 9:13 am Wednesday, October 23, 2019

MOULTRIE — Todd Hall caught just 10 passes as the senior tight end on Colquitt County’s undefeated state championship football team in 1994.

But his value to the team was more than what showed up in a box score.

As a freshman in 1991, he, along with center Brian Daniels and defensive back Jeff Davis, dressed with the varsity during the five-game playoff run that ended in a state runner-up finish.

The next year he started at tight end and was a fixture there for three seasons.

And he was a key component to the Packers 15-0 season. He blocked, caught some key passes and provided veteran leadership.

“The chemistry of that team was unlike anything I’ve been a part of,” Hall said this week. When we stepped on the field we knew we were going to win.”

Hall was one of those throwback athletes that played three sports at Colquitt County High.

Not only was he a three-year starter on the football team, he played basketball for coaches James Stancil and Keith Hall and was a member of the Jerry Croft-coached Packer baseball teams.

Hall was an all-region catcher as a junior for the Packers in 1994.

Croft also was his position coach when Hall played defense on the Packers eighth-grade football team. The next season, he was playing well enough on offense to join the varsity at the end of the season.

The Packers went 8-5 and 6-6 his first two seasons, but the 1994 team would not be stopped.

“We had a great staff,” Hall said of the group of assistants — including tight ends coach John Redmond — that veteran coach Jim Hughes assembled that year. “Especially adding coach Giddens.”

Kevin Giddens joined the staff and coached the offensive linemen just in time to help lead the program to its first state championship.

The offense used the running of Lavasky King, Tim Sanders and Sam Collins and the passing of Clif Henry and Matt Parker to Ronald Bonner, Carlos Johnson and others to keep the opposing defenses honest.

If Hall was frustrated by not having more pass receptions, he doesn’t let on. But he does remember, “I think I had more catches called back than I actually caught.”

And he recalls distinctly two touchdown catches that were nullified by penalties.

His lone varsity touchdown reception came on a ball thrown by Tony DeRosso against Tift County during his junior year.

He also remembers knowing during his senior season that if the Packers could win the region title, they would play their postseason games at home.

And that’s what happened. After a 10-0 regular season, the Packers beat Coffee, Camden County, East Coweta, Marietta and, in the championship game, Valdosta, all at Mack Tharpe Stadium.

And although the team won a pair of 10-7 games, a 7-3 contest and a 24-19 sure-enough nail-biter against East Coweta in the quarterfinals, “some of those games didn’t feel that close.”

“We just played so well together,” he remembers. “We really did care for each other. Nobody was selfish. I think that’s what made us special.”

Hall earned a scholarship to play football at Valdosta State and moved from tight end to center.

He gave up football after two seasons to concentrate on earning his bachelor’s degree.

He also has his specialist degree and began working in the Colquitt County school system in 2002.

He coached basketball for several years when he returned to Moultrie and then went into administration.

Hall is currently the federal programs director for the school system.

He now is watching and helping coach his three sons begin to taste athletics.

They are trying their hands at different sports, but all three seem to be especially adept at golf.

Hall laments that fewer youngsters are playing multiple sports at the high school level, as he did.

He understands how difficult it has become with some sports demanding so much time of players during the off-season.

“I still think it’s good to play other sports,” he said. “And I’m just proud that my boys are so competitive at whatever they do.”

Hall has spent plenty of Friday nights watching Colquitt County play since his days as a Packer and still reveres that 1994 season.

“We had a special group of players and a special group of coaches,” he said.