MOULTRIE — The Colquitt County football team’s spring scrimmage on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium on Saturday started with an 80-yard touchdown pass on the first offensive snap  and finished with a goal line stand by the defense.

In between, first-year Packers head coach Sean Calhoun and his staff saw a group that played with effort and energy.

“I think we got the reps we needed and the situations we needed,” Calhoun said after the scrimmage that lasted just over an hour.

“And we are going to continue to go after each other heading up to our scrimmage.”

The Packers finish spring drills on Friday when they travel to Cairo for a 7:30 p.m. scrimmage against the Syrupmakers.

In addition to the likely varsity and junior varsity players, the Saturday’s scrimmage introduced the rising ninth-grade players to playing at the stadium in front of the  fans.

The scrimmage came on the fifth of the 10 allotted days of spring practice and Calhoun said not nearly all of his offense and defense have been installed yet.

“We haven’t got very complicated on either side of the ball,” he said, adding, “But I think they can handle it.”

He was pleased by the number of big plays the offense produced, including the 80-yard bomb from quarterback I’marius Bussie to Landon Griffin on the first play.

“We had some moments where we looked real good and some where we looked real new,” Calhoun said.

Offensive coordinator John Cooper agreed, saying, “As far as assignments, we’ve definitely got to get better.

“We had great effort. There were things we did great and some were not so great. But if we are in the first steps and in the bottom rungs of the ladder, I’ll take it. We can get better from here.”

As expected, returning starter Neko Fann and Bussie, the returning backup, got most of the snaps at quarterback.

Charlie Pace, Chad White and Dayshawn Brown got most of the carries.

Veterans Griffin, Ny Carr, Zay Williams and tight end Landen Thomas were the primary targets.

Cooper said he Packers offense will look a bit different from last year’s.

“We’ll do a lot less RPO (run-pass option),” he said. “We are going to try to spread it around and we are going to run the football. To win that last game, you are going to have to run the football.”

The offensive line is working to replace two starters from last year’s 8-3 team. Cooper said that as the offensive line continues to gel, the Packers will be able to do what it plans offensively.

“But today, overall, it was a good day to be a Packer,” he said.

Calhoun also was pleased with the defense, which was ravaged by graduation after last season. There were a number of new faces and some familiar faces in new places.

Kamal Bonner has moved from safety to inside linebacker to help fill a void there and Jack Luttrell, who has moved to Moultrie with his father Stan Luttell, the strength and conditioning and linebackers coach, was active at safety.

“The defense forced some turnovers and that was good to see,” Calhoun said.

And he was especially proud when in the final series of the scrimmage, the defense held on four straight plays from inside the 5-yard line.

“The defense bowed their neck and that’s how the scrimmage ended,” Calhoun said.

“They really did a great job.”

Colquitt got strong performances from its two rising sophomore place-kickers, returning starter Brett Fitzgerald and George Ramirez, both of whom connected from 42 yards.

The Packers did not punt Saturday and are unlikely to punt at Cairo.

Again, Calhoun praised the effort.

“I told them that the day I have to tell them they have to fix their effort, that’s the day we have no chance,” he said. “Coaches have to demand effort, but that comes from within and our kids had a lot of it today.”