Packers prepare for visit from Propst and his Wildcats

Published 9:37 am Wednesday, September 23, 2020

MOULTRIE – The game that Colquitt County football fans – and Rush Propst – have been looking forward to since mid-April is nigh.

Valdosta will visit to play on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium at 8 p.m. Friday with Propst making his Moultrie debut on the visitors’ sidelines.

Propst, as any self-respecting Packer football fan knows, coached Colquitt County for 11 seasons, posting a 119-35 record, winning two state championships and playing for three others.

But in early 2019, he was let go by the Colquitt County Board of Education after an investigation into ethics violations that he continues to deny.

Last season, while Justin Rogers, his successor at Colquitt County, led the Packers to a 9-3 record, Propst worked as an adviser at UAB.

Last winter, he was introduced as the head coach at the new USA Academy in Alabama.

That deal soured and Propst was rumored to being considered for the head coaching job at Valdosta.

Sure enough, on Jan. 28, the Valdosta school board fired Alan Rodemaker, who had led the Wildcats to the 2016 state championship and had taken the Wildcats to the state quarterfinals in 2019.

On April 14, it was announced that Propst will take over the Valdosta program.

Since then, south Georgia football fans, and, perhaps, Propst himself had Sept. 25 circled on their calendars.

And in the meantime, three Colquitt County players have transferred to Valdosta, including top receiver Tajh Sanders, starting linebacker TyLi Lewis and running Jamad Willis.

The Wildcats are 2-0, having come from behind in their opener to defeat Warner Robins, top-ranked in Class 5A, 28-25 on a field goal with 25 seconds remaining.

After its game against Tift County was canceled when Blue Devils head coach Ashley Anders and four of his players tested positive for COVID-19, Valdosta pounded Bainbridge 45-7 last Friday.

Propst certainly has given some thought about his return to the stadium where his teams posted a 67-10 record from 2008-2018.

Following the Wildcat win over Bainbridge, he told Valdosta Daily Times reporter Shane Thomas, “Emotionally, for me, I left in a tough situation. There’s no bones about it that I wasn’t happy about it. I felt like I was done wrong. There’s no question I was done wrong. So, will there be a little bit of incentive? Maybe. But still, it boils down to the players, not me. It’s not about me.”

There are a couple ofColquitt County coaches, aside from Rogers, who might have a little more than the normal incentive to pull off a victory on Friday.

Rodemaker, after his almost indefensible firing, landed at Colquitt County as the Packers co-defensive coordinator. He, perhaps more than anyone else in this south Georgia saga, should be seeking some vindication.

The Packers also brought back to Moultrie Josh Crawford, who had been on the Colquitt County staff for several years under Propst before becoming Valdosta’s offensive coordinator working for Rodemaker.

Rumored to have been considered for the Valdosta head coaching job before Propst was hired, Crawford, too, has found safe haven in Moultrie.

While Valdosta had one of its first three games canceled by the coronavirus, Colquitt County lost two before finally playing last Friday, beating Banneker 51-0.

The Packers rolled up 430 yards of offense and first-year starting quarterback Xavier Williams completed 12-of-22 passes for 221 yards and three touchdowns.

Defensively, Colquitt held the Trojans to minus-70 yards rushing and minus-38 total yards.

Banneker completed just 4-of-17 passes for 32 yards, but three of the completions were for negative gains.

Colquitt was not forced to punt and Banneker made just two first downs, one of which came on double-personal foul penalties.

Rogers knows the competition will be exponentially better on Friday, even without the Propst factor.

In addition to Sanders, who leads Valdosta with 10 pass receptions for 238 yards and two touchdowns, the Wildcats have two other outstanding receivers in Aalah Brown and Javonte Stewart.

Brown has seven catches for 68 yards and two touchdowns and Sherman has caught four passes for 113 yards and a touchdown.

And throwing to them, at least in the win over Warner Robins, was quarterback Jake Garcia, who has committed to Southern Cal and transferred to Valdosta after his previous high school decided not to play football this fall.

One of the nation’s most sought-after high school quarterbacks, Garcia completed 22-of-34 passes for 332 yards and two touchdowns yards against the Demons, but a hamstring injury sidelined him for last Friday’s win over Bainbridge.

Amari Jones started and completed 10-of-15 passes for 188 yards and three touchdowns.

After the game against Bainbridge, Propst said Garcia is “gonna be out for a while.”

It will be interesting to see who takes snaps on Friday for a team that clearly wants to throw first and run for show.

The Wildcats will come to Moultrie ranked No. 1 in Class 6A and Rogers knows his team must keep its mistakes to a minimum.

“We have to stay away from negative plays on offense and we can’t give up big plays on defense,” Rogers said. “They (the Wildcats) are getting teams behind the chains, putting them in third-and-long situations all night long.

“We’ll have to limit the explosive plays and make them keep snapping it.”

With a quarterback and a group of running backs who will be starting just their second games, Rogers wants his team to control the ball as much as it can.

“We have got to stay on schedule and understand that we can’t shoot ourselves in the butt,” Rogers said.

Packers co-offensive coordinator Joe Thornton said he expects the Wildcats to blitz plenty from their traditional 5-0 defense.

“They did it a bunch last week,” Thornton said.

Valdosta won last year’s meeting 50-49 at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium. The Packers battled back from an early deficit and had a chance to win in the closing seconds, but a late field goal attempt sailed just wide left.

Rogers remembers how both crowds were loud and engaged in a game that could have gone either way.

“It was probably the best atmosphere we were in all year,” he said.

On Friday, the teams meet for the 106th time. The Moultrie/Colquitt County Packers have won 30 times in the series. No other program has that many victories against a program that prides itself in being the winningest school in the country.

“It’s Valdosta,” Rogers said. “Enough said. It’s definitely a big game. Any time you play someone for over 100 years, that’s important.”