MOULTRIE — The Colquitt County sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade Packer football teams will play their first games this week, but the seventh- and eighth-grade teams tuned up on Saturday, August 3, at Thomasville Middle School, with each team playing two scrimmage sessions versus area squads.

The seventh-graders played Cook first, and while there was no official score-keeping, the young Packers scored on a long pass from Jaxon Rowell to JJ Irvin for the lone touchdown of the first session and the “black hat” defense recorded a shutout.

On the opening possession of the day, quarterback Cade Calhoun completed passes to My’King Johnson, Reven Hooks and Taylen Williams and handed off to Johnson and Xylan Spivey as he guided the offense down to the 5-yard line. An errant snap set the young offense back and they turned the ball over on downs.

Due to the format of the scrimmage, the offense took back over at the Hornet 40 and the second play from scrimmage saw Rowell hit Irvin in stride as he streaked down the sideline. Irvin caught the pass over his shoulder and sprinted away from his defender into the end zone.

Johnson got loose on a run a few plays later, but a herd of Cook defenders finally wrestled him down as time ran out before the offense was able put up any more points.

“It wasn’t bad for our first time playing live against someone else,” head coach Andy Chapura said. “We saw a lot of good things and recognized a few critical areas we need to improve in.”

In the second session, against Berrien Middle School, it was Calhoun who hit a deep ball. He connected with Hooks, who used his body to shield his defender and hauled in the pass, then fought for more yardage down to the 5.

Spivey ran to pay dirt on the next play, breaking a tackle in the backfield and eluding a defender at the goal line, willing his way in.

Rowell led the next drive. After completing a pass to Spivey and watching Johnson run for a first down, the young signal-caller faked a handoff and scampered 16 yards to the pylon for another score.

Calhoun returned to action and hit Johnson and Irvin on two more touchdown strikes.

Rowell ended the day offensively by completing a pass to Jayden Howell.

Johnson and Spivey found nice running seams all day behind the blocking up front of Eli Loften and Tyrell Wright.

Wright also led the way defensively as he recorded a sack, three other tackles for loss, forced a fumble and recovered another in the two scrimmage sessions.

“That guy is hard to block,” defensive coordinator Will Flowers said. “We have a lot of guys who are hungry to make plays and we played well together as a unit. We had a few miscues we need to clean up, but this was a good starting point for us.”

The Packer defense only allowed two first downs to Cook, held Berrien to one first down, and forced several turnovers.

Jadyn Fowler forced three fumbles and recovered one of them, and Ah’Ryen Huckaby forced a fumble and led the team in tackles. Torrance Pinkins, Javion Ivey and John Tyler Southwell also recorded multiple stops at or behind the line of scrimmage, and Southwell recovered a fumble.

The eighth-grade Packers matched up with Thomasville and Cook.

Defensively, the eighth-grade Packers were led by Lavon Whittaker and Lathan Jordan, who spent the day in their opponent’s backfield, disrupting both opposing offenses.

On the offensive side of the ball, quarterback Michael Fowler led the Packers, running when he had to and making excellent throws out of the pocket.

“He showed good poise and leadership,” head coach Nate Madison said. “We’ve got a lot of ways we can improve — and we need to improve — but I like where we are right now. I trust my guys are ready to put the work in.”

John Parker Harrison led the team in receptions and yards and Kaylen Jordan scored a touchdown.

The sixth-grade Gold and seventh-grade Packers will make their regular-season debuts Wednesday, playing host Hahira at Mack Tharpe Stadium. The 7s will kick off at 4 p.m.; the 6s will start at 6 p.m.

The eighth-grade team travel to play at 4 p.m. Thursday at Hahira Middle School.