MOULTRIE – The Colquitt County High football team is being quarantined and begin re-acclimation next week, but the Packers still are planning to play their season-opener on Sept. 18 in front of the home fans.

After three Packers tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday and Monday, school officials concurred with a recommendation by District Health Director Charles Ruis that the entire team be quarantined for exposure to COVID-19.

The quarantine started Tuesday and will last through Wednesday, Sept. 9.

Players will be able to return to school the next day and will begin a Georgia High School Association-mandated five-day acclimation period that will run into the following week.

Despite having just three days to get ready, the Packers will suit up and play host to Banneker High on the Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium on Friday, Sept. 18.

“It’s definitely not ideal,” Packers coach Justin Rogers said Tuesday. “But let’s play. We’ll squeeze it in.

“We owe it to these young men.”

The Packers also will be on target to play host to Valdosta, the top-ranked team in Class 6A, the following Friday night, giving them just 15 days to prepare for the Wildcats.

“We’ll just have to make the most of the time we have,” Rogers said. “We’ll just play the hand we’re dealt.”

Colquitt also agreed on Monday to play at Dothan, Ala., on Oct. 2, giving the Packers an eight-game schedule.

Last week, the Packers were forced to cancel their originally scheduled Sept. 4 season-opener at Marietta and the Sept. 11 game at Brookwood after 12 offensive and three defensive linemen were quarantined because of potential exposure to the coronavirus.