MOULTRIE – Colquitt County’s 2022 football schedule includes games against four opponents the Packers have never played before.

The Packers, who will play this season for recently named head coach Sean Calhoun, will open on Saturday, Aug. 20, against Deerfield Beach, Fla., at Lowndes in the first Georgia-Florida Challenge.

The Packers will meet Stockbridge High the following Friday in the home-opener on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium.

Colquitt County also will play host to Lincoln High of Tallahassee on Sept. 30 and will make the long trip to Richmond Hill on Nov. 4 to close out the regular season.

In addition to those newcomers, the Packers also will play Tift County as a non-Region 1-7A opponent and help welcome Valdosta back to the region.

Colquitt will meet defending Class AAA state champion Cedar Grove and will face Lee County for the first time since 2015 in addition to familiar region foes Camden County and Lowndes.

The schedule will include six home games and no trips to the Atlanta area.

The Packers longest trip will be the 200-miler to face new region opponent Richmond Hill.

But Colquitt will play Camden County at home this year, so the Packers will not have to make two long trips either this year or next.

The Packers will play host to Richmond Hill and make the 150-mile trip to Camden County in 2023, when Colquitt will have seven home games.

The Packers will play host to Stockbridge, Cedar Grove and Lincoln both this year and in 2023.

The Region 1-7A schedule was made by a draw. Each team will have an open week and Colquitt County’s will be on Oct. 7, the first of the five allotted dates.

The Packers will travel to Cairo for this year’s spring scrimmage, but a date has not been selected yet.

The fall scrimmage plans have not been finalized.

The 2022 season will kick off at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20, in the inaugural Georgia-Florida Challenge to be played at Lowndes High’s Martin Stadium.

The Vikings will play American Heritage at 8 that night in the Challenge’s second game.

The Challenge will move to Moultrie in 2023, when the Packers will play host to a Florida opponent to open the season. Lowndes will play the second game against an as yet undetermined opponent.

Deerfield Beach, which is located in Broward County, went 9-3 in 2021.

Stockbridge, which is located in Henry County, will come to Moultrie on Friday, Aug. 26, for Game No. 2.

The Tigers, who play in Region 4-5A, were 5-5 last fall under first-year coach Thomas Clark.

Stockbridge has had some recent success and from 2012-2018 the program went a combined 82-12 with five region championships.

In 2018, the Tigers reached the state semifinals, where they were eliminated by Bainbridge.

The Packers will play host to Tift County on Friday, Sept. 2, as a non-region opponent.

The Blue Devils were 6-5 in 2021 in their final season in Class 7A before dropping to Region 1-6A this year.

Tift fell to the Packers 31-6 last season.

Colquitt County has not lost to Lee County in 10 previous meetings, the last two of which came in 2014 and 2015.

But the Trojans, who will play host to the Packers on Sept. 9 in Leesburg, have thrived under coach Dean Fabrizio and won Class 6A state championships in 2017 and 2018.

Lee went 11-2 last year and was eliminated by Buford 27-0 in the quarterfinals.

After an open week, the Packers will play host to Cedar Grove on Sept. 23.

Although the Saints fell to the Packers 28-19 last year, they went on to win the program’s third Class 3A state championship in the last four years.

Lincoln High went 9-3 last year in Florida’s Class 6A. The Trojans have won 31 games over the last four seasons.

After the Oct. 7 open date, the Packers will finish the regular season with games against Camden County, at home on Oct. 14; Lowndes, at home on Oct. 21; at Valdosta on Oct. 28; and at Richmond Hill on Nov. 4.

The complete 2022 schedule:

Aug. 20    Deerfield Beach, Fla., at Lowndes

Aug. 26    Stockbridge H

Sep. 2      Tift County H

Sep. 9      at Lee County

Sep. 16    OPEN

Sep. 23    Cedar Grove H

Sep. 30    Lincoln (Fla.) H

Oct. 7      OPEN

Oct. 14    Camden County H

Oct. 21    Lowndes H

Oct. 28    at Valdosta

Nov. 4     at Richmond Hill