Packers’ road to the playoffs has some challenges

Published 2:18 pm Tuesday, August 15, 2023

MOULTRIE —  If the 2023 season consists of three distinct segments — non-Region 1-7A games, region games and playoffs — the first will get off to what is expected to be the most difficult of the first six games.

But regardless of the outcome of Saturday’s season-opener against Dutch Fork, the top team in South Carolina, Colquitt County will have to get through a gauntlet of five more games before traveling to Camden County for the region-opener on Oct. 13.

The degree of difficulty of the five opponents between Dutch Fork and Camden County varies. Cedar Grove is preseason No. 1 pick after falling in the Class 3A state championship game last fall.

Lee County is ranked No. 5 in Class 6A and Stockbridge is No. 10 in Class AA.

But Tift County won just once last year. Lincoln High of Tallahassee was one-and-done in the playoffs.

Stockbridge was 10-3 and reached the Class 5A quarterfinals last year before being ousted by Benedictine 34-14.

The Tigers took a nine-game winning streak into its final game.

Among their losses was a 29-0 defeat at the hands of the Packers in a game that was called off at the half because of threatening weather.

Stockbridge, which features All-Class 4A offensive lineman Amare Grayson, is picked to win the Region 5 championship.

The Packers will go to Brodie Field to meet Tift County in what is likely to be a final non-region meeting with the Blue Devils.

Colquitt won handily in Moultrie last year, taking a 41-13 victory.

Tift went on to finish 1-9, with its only victory coming over Gadsden County (Fla.) by a 27-24 score.

The Blue Devils went 0-5 in Region 1-6A, scoring just 48 points in the five games.

Tift, which is expected to rejoin Region 1 in the highest classifiction next year, has lost 13 of its last 14 meetings with the Packers.

Lee County went 8-4 last year and lost in the secnd round of the Class 6A playoffs to Woodward Academy.

The Trojans were ranked No. 2 last year when they played host to the Packers, but fell 48-27.

Colquitt broke that game open with a 24-point fourth quarter.

Big junior Trojan running back Ousmane Kromah, who has rushed for more than 3,500 yards in his two seasons, gained 202 on 20 carries and scored twice, but it was not enough to hold off the Packers.

Lee County has never defeated the Packers in football. Colquitt is 11-0 in the series and has scored 160 points in the last three meetings with the Trojans.

Cedar Grove was 11-3 last year and reached the Class 3A state championship game where it lost to Sandy Creek 21-17.

The Saints were ranked No. 1 when they came to Moultrie to meet the Packers last season and lost 39-17.

Colquitt also defeated Cedar Grove 28-17 in a 2021 season in which the Saints went on to win the state championship.

The Saints have four preseason All-State selections in quarterback Elliott Colson, offensive lineman Jalen Slaughter, defensive lineman Chase Kerns and defensive back Jakyre Horton.

The Packers will finish the non-region portion of its schedule by playing host to Tallahassee’s Lincoln High.

The Trojans were 5-6 last year, including a 30-7 loss to the Packers in which Charlie Pace and Landen Thomas each scored a pair of touchdowns.

Lincoln was bounced in the first round of the playoffs by Columbia of Lake City.

Then comes the four-game region schedule for the Packers starting with a trip to Chris Gilman Stadium in Kingsland to take on what is expected to be an improved Camden County team.

The Trojans were 8-4 and reached the second round of the playoff after winning three of their four Region 1-7A games.

That lone region loss came by a 49-21 score against Colquitt County in Moultrie.

This will be the third season for Jeff Herron in his second tour at Camden County.

The Wildcats were 4-7 in 2021 in his first year back.

Camden County should be bolstered by Georgia-committed tight end Elyiss Williams, who has transferred from Charlton County.

The Packers will go on the road for the final time in the regular season on Oct. 20, to meet Lowndes at Martin Stadium.

The Vikings were 5-6 and just 1-3 in the region last year under first-year head coach Zach Grage, a former Packers assistant.

Colquitt won by a lopsided 42-12 at home.

But Grage is gone and has been replaced by former Grayson coach Adam Carter, who is 61-16 as a head coach, including a 45-9 record at Grayson. The Rams won the 2020 state championship under Carter.

Colquitt will play its final two regular-season games this season at home, starting with Valdosta on Oct. 27.

In the latest of one of the longest-running series in the state, the Packers got 14 points in the final 8:26 to win last year 24-6.

The Wildcats, in their second year under former Packers assistant Shelton Felton, went 8-3, but lost their last three games in a row.

The final Region 1-7A game will be at home against Richmond Hill. Last season, the Wildcats were 3-7 overall and 0-4 in their first year in Region 1-7A.