MOULTRIE – A 2-0 start looks and feels much better for a Colquitt County High football fan. Two wins down, and now comes the first rematch from the 2016 season and part of that dreadful 0-4 beginning for what was a two-time defending state championship program.

Real-life situations made for unusual circumstances surrounding the first Packer home game against Tucker High, which was scheduled for a typical Friday night. But on the Thursday evening before, Hurricane Hermine made landfall and stormed through much of southwest Georgia. Plans changed for sports as Tucker opted to travel from the Atlanta area on Saturday for a mid-afternoon kickoff.

In that game under humid conditions, the Tigers rallied to win 21-20 on a jet sweep touchdown run by Tauren Taylor, 23 yards on 3rd-and-7. Chris Broadwater, fullback, added the two-point conversion to go with his 188 yards on the ground.

Broadwater, now, is playing college football in Chattanooga, Tenn., but Tucker – who went on to play for the Class 6A championship – is still a wing-T offense. However, the spotlight isn’t on any running back, but instead a wideout named Josh Vann, committed to South Carolina. Vann, in two Tucker wins, has 11 catches, five for touchdowns, and 229 receiving yards. He is the only Tiger with a TD catch, all thrown by quarterback Travon Ford, who has yet to give up an interception (18-for-29 for 341 yards).

The most famous connection was Ford’s 78-yard heave and Vann’s juggling catch at the Corky Kell Classic Aug. 19 at Georgia State Stadium. That tied their game with Kell High late in the fourth quarter, and the Tigers prevailed by one in overtime. Vann had three of his touchdowns that afternoon, including the winner in OT.

There is a Tucker running game to look out for as Taylor is back and paired this time with Gerry Vaughn. Combined they have four touchdowns. Add David Davis Jr. and there’s six Tiger TDs on the ground so far.

What will give then this Friday on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium when this offense tries to make yards and points on a Colquitt County defense that is giving up an average of 124 yards a game? While three touchdowns have gone against the Packers in wins over Norcross High (20-17) and Vista Murrieta (26-7), only one of those was offense vs. defense. And yes, that was just a six-yard turnover-created drive that really covered 12 yards due to one of the six sacks Colquitt had on Norcross in that same Corky Kell event.

First-year defensive coordinator Mo Dixon had that Tiger wing-T formation on the white board at the coaches office Monday with a listing of run and pass plays. He said there will be a lot of great athletes on the field this Friday and walked through the Tucker tendencies.

“The jet sweep is big for them,” said Dixon. “You’ve got toss sweep, jet sweep, stretch and buck sweep, which is what you usually see out of wing-T. Usually when they go to the deep motion, it is some type of down play or belly play. They will also take a wing and get him to a quick pitch, like a run-and-shoot thing.

“They will take all these guys and stack them, then hand somebody the ball to see if they can get on the perimeter. They do the counters and fast screens. They like to hit (Vann) on the tunnel coming back, which is basically a draw.”

And on other plays, Dixon said eight Tigers will block with Vann sent out deep for the long bomb or fade.

“We have to try something like we did with (Khalil Shakir) from Vista Murrieta,” said Dixon about the Broncos’ all-purpose threat from last Friday. “We have to find a way to bracket (Vann), get two guys on him at all times.”

Shakir tried a tunnel in Friday’s game but was stopped by Camari Louis for lost yards. He had just eight positive yards gained in the first half and was a non-factor in the second.

As for Ford, Dixon said the Tiger quarterback is typical of the wing-T as he likes to toss the ball and roll out. Dixon, though, added Ford has the arm strength to throw the long ball.

“If you are playing off, he will probably try to throw it short,” said Dixon. “(The other Tucker receiver) is pretty good, too. They have athletes, always have. The big thing is the power of wing football. They do have guys who play both ways.”

Dixon was impressed by the size up front for Tucker. The Tiger stats shown by Maxpreps says Ford does not call his own number, only two rushes. That could mean he’s not likely to be victim of a sack, something Colquitt has eight of in two games.

“Kell got to him,” said Dixon. “(Kell) runs a 3-5 also and are a little thinner than we are up front. They actually hit him more than what I remembered when we studied the film. That may have had something to do with (linemen) getting a little tired.

“When you are playing Tucker, they will give you a two-man route, but a lot of times they know where they want (the ball) to go. They do run plays, but can catch you sleeping somewhere on the back side and hit you with skinny post.”

The Packer defense will go into the game not only with the eight sacks, but two passes intercepted by Kaleb Dawson and Jay Ward. Ward’s came in the Vista Murrieta win during the second half.

“We’re doing a lot more in the secondary than what I’m used to doing,” said Dixon. “We’ve been able to bracket some kids, a couple of good ball players. We watched all (Bronco) films from last year and (Shakir) was killing people. He’s all over the place. He didn’t get the ball too many times (here).”

So Ford may not be sacked yet, but Dixon’s words suggest he has been hurried, or pressured. JJ Peterson, Colquitt’s All-American candidate at linebacker, did not get a sack on Vista Murrieta sophomore Robert Coleman but rushed him with fury and clocked him to end both halves.

“He seems to be feeling better,” said Dixon about Peterson’s health issues this offseason. The plan is still to do limited things with Peterson, who didn’t play all snaps last Friday, which may account for the energy he had late.

“We want him in the middle of the mix. We don’t want to drop him a whole lot. We want to put him between C gap to C gap and get after people. We’re keeping him on the strong side.

“(Tucker) has a front that can block him, but we try to use him off the edge. When everybody is going to start blocking towards him, we’ll start moving him around. When he zeroes in, if you are going to block him, he’s going to run over you. You saw, once he decides to go, good luck.”