MOULTRIE — The winner of the Colquitt County-Valdosta game that kicks off at 8 p.m. Friday at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium will clinch the Region 1-7A championship and have the opportunity to play host to the first two playoff games.

But for the 8-0 and No. 2-ranked Packers, defeating the 8-1 Wildcats will not be as easy as 1-2-3.

Nor as easy as 8-9-10.

The key to a very fine Valdosta defense is its front three: No. 8, senior nose guard T.J. Morrison; No. 9, junior defensive end Eric Brantley; and No. 10, junior defensive end Omar White, all 6-foot-3, 310 pounds of him.

Packers head coach Sean Calhoun said the three make up the best defensive line he has had to coach against.

And this is why: “Their motor, their hands. They are lightning quick to the ball. and they play hard. Sometimes you’ll see defensive linemen take a play off. These guys don’t,” Calhoun said.

“We are going to have our hands full.”

And after being upset 17-14 by Camden County, the Wildcats will be eager to play well in front of their home fans with a region title on the line.

“It’s good and it’s bad,” Packers defensive coordinator Jeremy Rowell said of how the Valdosta loss will affect the Packers. “You don’t want them coming off a loss. Now they are fighting for their lives.”

The Packers have taken care of their non-region business and have defeated Camden County 49-21 and Lowndes 42-14 to open region play.

Colquitt has outscored its eight opponents by a combined 315-99. Region-leading passer Neko Fann has completed 106-of-164 passes for 1,440 yards and 16 touchdowns.

He threw for 269 yards and four touchdowns in the 42-14 win over Lowndes last Friday.

Charlie Pace has rushed for 877 yards, is averaging 9.0 yards a carry.

The top two Colquitt County receivers are juniors who have committed to Georgia.

Wide receiver Ny Carr has 28 catches for 461 yards and four touchdowns, three of which he produced last Friday.

Tight end Landen Thomas, listed at 6-foot-5 and 233 pounds, has 26 catches for 465 yards and five scores.

Valdosta, in its second year under head coach Shelton Felton and defensive coordinator Tracy Buckhannon – both former Colquitt County assistants — has allowed just 52 points in nine games.

An irresistible force against an immovable object?

Calhoun would only say, “Points will be at a premium. We are going to have to find some way to get some yards, get some first downs. It’s going to be a slugfest.”

And Calhoun is not discounting the Colquitt County defense, which many believe has exceeded expectations.

The most points the Packers have surrendered in a game is 27 in the victory at Lee County. Seven of those points came in the waning minutes with outcome long since determined.

The Packers’ three-man front of ends Tyshon Reed Jr., Julian Harper and outstanding sophomore Amari Wilson do not match the Valdosta trio in size, but have been plenty effective.

The Colquitt front gets plenty of support from inside linebackers Kamal Bonner and Nick Pace and outside backers Daveon Hunt and Qway McCoy.

Valdosta would rather run than throw, but still has 903 yards and 11 touchdowns through the air.

That means corners Raheim McBride and Carlos Moore and safeties Jack Luttrell and Lyric Thomas will have to be wary.

“They have a power running game,” Rowell said. “They are going to try to run the football and use play action.”

Sophomore Todd Robinson will start at quarterback. He has completed 52 percent of his passes and thrown for 10 scores.

Leading rusher Ahmad Denson has gained 456 yards, including 145 against Camden last week. One of his carries against Camden went for a 47-yard touchdown.

Jalen Whitehead, the Wildcats leading receiver, was injured last week and taken from the field in a stretcher.

The Packers will attack with Fann, Charlie Pace, Carr and Thomas, but has other weapons as well, including Fann’s ability to run, which he displayed on a 78-yard touchdown jaunt on the first offensive snap against Lowndes.

Fann also likes throwing to Za’Mari Williams, who has 25 catches, Landon Griffin, Jaden Fowler, Will Robbins and Charlie Pace coming out of the backfield.

The offense starts with a line that includes tackles Keshaun Palmore and Turk Daniels, guards Cole Holmes and Ja’Nas Daniels and center Jay’Den Williams.

The Packers have a reliable kicker in sophomore Brett Fitzgerald, who has kicked seven field goals and 31 extra points. Will Tapscott will do both the long and short snapping. Eli Meads is the holder.

Ethan Ramirez has been handling the kickoff duties.

Luttrell is the Jack of all special teams trades. He punts, returns punts and returns kickoffs.

Felton is in his second season as Valdosta’s head coach.

After Valdosta was forced to forfeit all its wins in 2020 after running afoul of the Georgia High School Association, Felton took over last season and guided the shaken program to a 4-6 record.

He appears to have justified the school’s confidence in him.

Felton was Colquitt County defensive ends coach in 2013 and its defensive line coach during the undefeated and state championship 2014 season.

He left in 2015 to return to Dooly County, his high school alma mater, and led the Cougars to a 13-1 record in 2016.

In 2017, he was the outside linebackers coach and assistant head coach at Chattanooga and went to Tennessee the next season as a quality control analyst under Jeremy Pruitt.

After spending 2019 as the outside linebackers coach and defensive line coach at Akron, he returned to Knoxville as outside linebackers coach.

He was let loose at Tennessee in January 2021.

“He’s going to be a great fit anywhere he goes because of the kind of man he is and what he stands for,” Calhoun said, who also was a member of the Colquitt County staff in 2014.

“He’s got some really good players and a good coaching staff. We know we will get their best shot and we are going to give them ours.”

PACKERS NOTES: The Valdosta linebackers coach is former Packer Tomarcio Reese, who started at linebacker on the 2014 state championship team.

Moultrie/Colquitt County High is a combined 32-71-4 against Valdosta.

But since 2013, Colquitt has won eight of the last nine meetings. Colquitt’s only loss during that streak came in 2019 when the Packers missed field goal in the closing seconds and fell 50-49.

Colquitt won 48-42 in Valdosta last year on a late score.

Also on Friday, Richmond Hill (3-5 overall, 0-2 in the region) will be at Martin Stadium to face Lowndes (4-4, 0-2). Camden County will have the bye.

The regular season closes on Friday, Nov. 4, with Colquitt County traveling to Richmond Hill and Lowndes going to Camden County.