Colquitt County's Daveon Hunt (37) and Carlos Moore (17) stop a Tift County ball carrier in his tracks.

MOULTRIE — The prelims are done.

Now the games that will harden the Colquitt County football team for its four-week trek for a Region 1-7A championship will begin.

The first will be in Leesburg on Friday when the unbeaten Packers take on Lee County, also 3-0 and ranked No. 2 in Class 6A.

Classification does not factor into this equation as Packers head coach Sean Calhoun pointed out recently.

“No matter what classification Lee County is in, it’s one of the best teams in the state,” he said.

“And anytime you play at their place, it’s going to be an incredible environment.”

The Packers have been able to handle their first three opponents with comparative ease: 37-0 over Deerfield Beach, 29-0 over Stockbridge in two quarters and 41-13 over a building Tift County.

Lee also has two expected wins over the last two weeks, taming Hapeville Charter 37-0 with the mercy rule and winning over Lithia Springs 41-7 in two quarters last week with its two top offensive players getting the night off.

Those two players — running back Ousmane Kromah and receiver T.J. Fugerson — were on the field when the Trojans knocked off two-time defending Class 5A champion Warner Robins 26-10 in the season-opener.

Lee out-gained the Demons 395-233 that evening and ended their 30-game winning streak at McConnell-Talbert Stadium.

One observer has suggested that Lee County might be the best team the Packers will play in the regular season.

The Packers have some weapons of their own, some that might not have been unleashed to full potential over the last three weeks.

Colquitt County has not lost to Lee County in 10 previous meetings, although that is primarily ancient history.

The Trojans program did not rise to state power status until Dean Fabrizio took over the program in 2009.

Lee has gone 118-42 with six region titles and state championships in 2017 and 2018 since then.

Colquitt dealt Lee County back-to-back 59-14 and 54-17 whippings in 2014 and 2015, but the Trojans program has reached another level since then.

Since the two schools last met in 2015, Lee has gone a combined 74-11.

There are plenty of people in Leesburg who are hoping their Trojans can avenge those scores on Friday.

If they do, they will likely have received another sterling performance from Kromah, a sophomore running back who ran for more than 1,700 yards and 23 touchdowns last season as a freshman.

Despite having last Friday off, Kromah has rushed for 366 yards on 36 carries and scored four touchdowns this season.

By the way, he has an offer from Alabama.

Two other ball carriers – Braxton Honer and Devin Collier – are averaging 6.8 and 8.3 yards per carry respectively. Collier scored four times against Lithia Springs; Honer scored twice.

Quarterback Christopher Martin has completed 14-of-34 passes for 157 yards and one touchdown.

The Lee County offense has not thrown the football much yet and the Packers are hoping to make the Trojans do just that.

Colquitt County appears to be more balanced offensively.

The Packers have an All-State ball carrier of their own in Charlie Pace, who is averaging 11.5 yards a carry this season and is closing in on 2,000 in his career.

But while Calhoun and his offensive staff would like nothing better than to have Pace – and/or his fellow runners Chad White and Ramsey Dennis – run roughshod over the Trojans, the Packers have other dangerous weapons.

Junior quarterback Neko Fann has started 14 games in his career and has already thrown 36 touchdown passes.

He appears unflappable and on the same wavelength with receivers Ny Carr, Za’Mari Williams, Landen Thomas, Landon Griffin and Jaden Fowler.

Carr, who has 53 career catches, including 13 for touchdowns, has already committed to play at Georgia.

Tight end Thomas, the No. 1-ranked junior tight end in the country, has said he also is headed to Athens to play collegiately. He has 10 touchdown catches to his credit.

Williams has three scoring catches to his credit this season.

Calhoun and Cooper want to spread the field and force opposing defenses to account as many as five receivers.

It is much the same system that the Packers used in 2014 and 2015 when, with Calhoun as the passing game and offensive coordinator, the Packers scored 1,387 points while going 30-0.

Giving Pace creases to run through and Fann time to pick-and-choose receivers is an offensive line that starts with center Jay’Den Williams, a 6-foot-2, 273-pound junior.

To Williams’s left is senior guard Cole Holmes, a 285-pounder.

To his right is junior Ja’Nas Daniels, all 262 pounds of him.

The left tackle is 235-pound senior Keshaun Palmore, the leader of the line. All 309-pound junior right tackle Turk Daniels has done is start 25 straight games for the Packers.

While the offensive line has the heavies, the defensive front that will get the first crack at Kromah is smallish.

Senior nose Julian Harper is 186 pounds. Left end Tyshon Reed is 6-foot-5, 211 pounds, but is playing his first year of football for the Packers.

Right end is staffed by Amari Wilson, a 236-pound sophomore.

The two middle linebackers – Georgia Tech-bound Kamal Bonner and leading tackler Nick Pace – must control the inside.

A pair of seniors – Daveon Hunt and Qway McCoy – will patrol the outside.

All four defensive backs are seniors: corners Carlos Moore and Raheim McBride and safeties Lyric Thomas and Jack Luttrell.

Brett Fitzgerald and Luttrell have shared the punting duties.

Fitzgerald will be the place-kicker with Ethan Ramirez getting the kickoff duties.

Will Tapscott will do the long snapping to holder Eli Meads.

Williams and Luttrell are the likely return men.