Colquitt County boys soccer coach Jimbo Jarvis, second from right, and assistant Eric Wingate, right, watch the action at Packer Park.

MOULTRIE – Jimbo Jarvis might one day have looked back on 2020 as the year in which he won his 100th game as the Colquitt County High boys soccer coach or, perhaps, as the year his team won a region title or the season his team made its strongest run in the state playoffs.

Instead, he will remember the season for what might have been.

The Packers, with 15 seniors and perhaps the deepest roster in Jarvis’s eight years as the boys head coach, won nine of their first 10 games, were 3-1 and in first place in Region 1-7A when the Georgia High School Association shut down play because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It was very frustrating,” Jarvis said. “I understand why it happened and the bigger picture helps. But I really felt like we had the best team, top to bottom, that I’ve ever had the pleasure of coaching. With what we had on the bench, we had depth.

“So it’s painful. We had a great shot at the region championship and I really felt like we had a chance to go far in the playoffs. It was really a strong, strong group.”

And while the team was in first place when the season ended, the region agreed not to declare any spring sports champions.

The 2020 Packers were led by 15 seniors, the most Jarvis has had since taking over the boys program in 2013.

The group included John Reid Jarvis, Josh Aviles, Aldo Miranda, Brian Jimenez, Caden Summerlin, Gilbert Velasquez, Humberto Aguilar, Timmy Phelps, Enrique Salgado, Garrison Glenn, Bobby Ussery, Juan Espinoza, Mardo Bamaca, Michael Avalos Weeks and Raul Diaz.

“I really hate it for those guys,” Jarvis said, adding that they missed crossing the field with their family on a Senior Night that was never held. “And they had come so far.”

Jarvis also said he felt he had a special bond with that group of seniors, a bunch he had “coached since they were tiny.”

“I really was more hands-on with this group,” Jarvis said.

Adding to the sense of frustration for Jarvis was that his son John Reid was a senior on the team and he had looked forward to the traditional Senior Night hug and hand shake.

“I got to see him come along and become the soccer player he is,” Jarvis said of his son. “I really got to see him blossom.

“And he never took advantage of the fact that his dad was the head coach.”

The shortened season was 22nd for Jarvis, who coached the Colquitt County girls for 14 years before taking over the boys program.

The Packers’ 2-1 victory at Lowndes on March 10 gave Jarvis a 100-35-8 record in his eight seasons with the boys team.

He will take a 254-129-15 career coaching record into the 2021 season.

Jarvis said that while the team will have to overcome the loss of a talented, senior-dominated team next year, the future of the program is bright.

The junior varsity had a strong season and won a tournament. The ninth-, eighth- and seventh-grade programs also more than held their own last season.

“All of our teams were clicking,” he said.

Jarvis said that there will be at least a couple of changes in the sub-varsity coaching staffs, but that long-time varsity assistant Eric Wingate will be back next spring.

“He’s been here since I took over the boys and we have good chemistry,” Jarvis said.

Unfortunately, it is unlikely that there will be a summer program to enable Jarvis and Wingate to evaluate next year’s team.

The GHSA is allowing sports teams to use June for conditioning, but without being able to incorporate a soccer ball into the regimen, that not likely to prove beneficial for teams that do not play until next spring.

“We’ll see what July has to offer,” Jarvis said.

As he faces his 23rd season as a varsity coach, Jarvis said he has no immediate plans to retire.

“If you enjoy yourself, it’s never a burden,” he said. “And I still enjoy what I’m doing.”

And he’ll always have the memory of that season of potential that was cut short by COVID-19.

“This is one team that I’ll never forget,” Jarvis said. “I’ll be talking about these guys as long as I live.”