Sean Calhoun, in his first season as Colquitt County’s head coach, has led the Packers to eight straight victories, including the program’s 700th last week, a 42-14 win over Lowndes.

MOULTRIE — Fans who witnessed the first Moultrie High football game on Oct. 13, 1913, paid 25 cents for admission, but, alas, it was not a victory for the hometown boys, not yet called Packers.

In fact, Moultrie did not win a game that first season, going 0-3-1.

It was not until Oct. 3, 1914, that the Moultrie football team won the school’s first game, shutting out Sparks 19-0, in the season-opener.

Like the program’s 700th victory, which would come 108 years later, the first win featured strong defense.

In the 42-14 victory over Lowndes last Friday, the Packers surrendered just one touchdown of consequence and its defensive line play was stellar.

The Moultrie Observer’s account of Moultrie High’s first victory noted the “brilliant defensive work of the Moultrie tackles (Thelma) Dekle and Smith.”

James “Dot” Scarboro and Reid McKenzie scored touchdowns in the win, the first of five as the team produced in its first winning season, going 5-1.

George Roach coached Moultrie High its first three seasons before Harold Saxon took over the team and led it to a 34-16-1 record through 1923.

Saxon led Moultrie High to its first title in 1919 when the team finished an undefeated, unscored-upon season by defeating Bainbridge 25-0 in the South Georgia Football Association championship game.

In 1921 and 1922, Moultrie won back-to-back championships in the Southwest Georgia High School Association.

In 1924, the Moultrie High football team was first referred to as the Packers and it went 5-1-4, tying for the conference championship.

Dode Phillips, a legendary South Carolina high school and football star, took over the Moultrie program in 1928 and led the Packers to a 9-0-1 record and the South Georgia championship.

Phillips led the Packers to 45 wins before turning the program over in 1937 to Grant Gillis, the former University of Alabama standout and star of the 1925 Rose Bowl.

The Packers won the South Georgia championship that season, but lost to Spalding 6-0 in the state championship game in Albany.

The Packers went 8-3 under Jim Still in 1950 with a team that featured All-State halfback “Ramblin’” Ray Mercer.

Knuck McCrary took over the program the next year and produced an 85-52-8 record before suffering a heart attack during a 1965 game and dying later that night.

The early 1950s Packers teams featured two-time region rushing champion Gene Littleton.

In 1963, the Packers defeated Glynn Academy for the South Georgia title, but lost the state championship game 40-0 at Avondale.

The 1972 Bud Willis-coached Packers, featuring Parade All-American quarterback Ray Goff, went 11-1, losing only in the Class AAA semifinals on a tiebreaker.

In 1978, the county consolidated its schools and the new school became Colquitt County High.

Moultrie High had posted a record of 342-209-28. After the win over Lowndes last Friday, Colquitt County is 358-181-2.

Colquitt County High won its first game in the 1978 season-opener defeating Monroe 31-27, but the program struggled until Jim Hughes, who had won two state titles at Thomasville, was hired in 1983.

The Packers played for the state championship in 1991 and won it in 1994, going 15-0.

Hughes posted a record of 140-68-2 before retiring after the 1999 season. He has the most wins in Packers history.

The program’s success spiked again when Rush Propst took over in 2008.

His 11 teams produced a record of 119-35.

The 2010 team played for the state championship, but fell to Brookwood.

But his 2014 and 2015 teams produced back-to-back 15-0 records, winning state championships.

The 2015 team was awarded a national championship.

His final two Packers teams in 2017 and 2018 also reached the state championship games, but fell short each year.

The program has continued to be successful following Propst’s departure after the 2018 season. Justin Rogers led the Packers to a 26-7 record in three seasons before he left to take the job at Thomas County Central.

Sean Calhoun, an offensive assistant on Colquitt County’s 2014 and 2015 undefeated state championship teams, took over the program this year and the Packers will take an 8-0 record into Friday’s game at Valdosta.

Over the years, the Packers have played no opponent as often as they have the Wildcats.

Moultrie went 11-42-4 against Valdosta.

Colquitt County has been more successful, going 21-29 and winning eight of the last nine, but with the school’s 108th meeting looming, the Packers still trail their biggest rival 32-71-4.