MOULTRIE — One 2023 Colquitt County football opponent has already won a state championship and two others will have their chances next week.

Dutch Fork, which traveled to Moultrie from Irmo, S.C., to open the season back on Aug. 19, defeated White Knoll 21-6 on Friday to claim the state’s Class 5A state championship.

For the Silver Foxes, it was their eighth state title since 2013 and second in a row.

But it was especially enjoyable after the team got off to a 2-5 start.

The start included a 48-17 loss to the Packers on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium.

Stockbridge, the team that played — and lost — to the Packers the following week, will meet Perry on Dec. 12, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for Georgia’s Class 5A state title.

The Tigers opened the season with a 35-28 loss to Douglas County, then came to Moultrie and absorbed a 47-27 loss to the Packers.

Stockbridge has not lost since then, winning 12 games in a row.

Cedar Grove went 5-5 in the regular season, which included a 50-42 loss to the Packers in the Hawg Pen.

Ranked No. 2 in Class AAA, the Saints have won four straight playoff games and will meet Savannah Christian on Dec. 13 for the state title.

Also with a chance at a state championship is Thomas County Central, which is 14-0 under former Packers coach Justin Rogers.

The Yellow Jackets, who defeated Marist 13-7 last Friday, will meet 12-2 Woodward Academy on Tuesday, Dec. 12, for a shot at the school’s first state title since 1997.

Scott Roberts, who was a Colquitt County assistant coach under Mike Singletary in 2004, has led his Swainsboro team to the Class A Division I state championship game for the second year in a row.

The No. 3-seeded Tigers will meet 13-1 Prince Avenue Christian for the championship.

Last year, Swainsboro lost the state championship game to Prince Avenue Christian 52-34.

Granger Shook, who coached the Colquitt County inside linebackers from 2014-2015, led his first Pike Road (Ala.) team to the state title game, where it fell to defending champion Saraland 46-7.

Pike Road finished 11-3.

Of this and that:

• For the second straight season, former Packer Ty French, who plays at Gardner-Webb, has been selected as a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award.

The award is given annually to the national defensive player of the year in Division I FCS college football.

The Buchanan Award, first presented in 1995 and in its 29th season, is named for legendary defensive lineman Junious “Buck” Buchanan, who starred at Grambling State as part of his Hall of Fame career.

This season, French set a school record for career sacks with 30.5. French also set a school record for career tackles-for-loss with 58.

• Memphis defensive tackle Zy Brockington has announced his intention to enter the transfer portal.

• It has been reported that Glenville (W.Va.) State wide receiver Orion Bonner also is seeking to transfer.

A second-team All-Mountain East Conference selection this year, Bonner has caught 108 passes for 1,468 yards and 10 touchdowns for the Pioneers.

• Robin Hines has announced that he will retire as the executive director of the Georgia High School Association on Aug. 1.

He has been the head of the GHSA for seven years.

Hines played his high school football at Thomasville High School for Jim Hughes and was in Moultrie last month for a get-together celebrating the 40th anniversary of Hughes’s taking over the Colquitt County program.

Hines served on Hughes’s staff for two years in the mid-1980s.

He also played baseball at Thomasville.

Hines went on to become the football coach at Westover, where he posted a 19-31 record from 1990-1994.

He was a high school principal and school superintendent before taking the GHSA’s top job in 2017.

• Ryan Fitzgerald kicked field goals of 45, 33 and 40 yards and converted after Florida State’s lone touchdown in the Seminoles’ 16-6 ACC championship game victory over Louisville on Saturday.

• Daijun Edwards carried the football 10 times for 38 yards and caught two passes for 11 yards in Georgia’s 27-24 SEC championship game loss to Alabama.