MOULTRIE – The Colquitt County seventh-grade football team threw interceptions on its first two possessions, but with the defense throwing an impressive shutout, it didn’t matter in a 14-0 victory over Tift County on Wednesday in the Hawg Pen.

The Packers pulled down four interceptions of their own, all in the second half, to protect an early lead.

Colquitt went long distance on both of its touchdowns.

Aiyden Rodriguez returned a punt 62 yards as the Packers jumped out to an 8-0 lead with 2:35 left in the first quarter.

And as the defense continued to deny the visitors a comeback, Colquitt scored again with 5:52 left in the game when Julez Irvin made an acrobatic catch of a Cade Calhoun pass at midfield and turned it into a 75-yard score.

“We were rusty, but that was how we practiced all week,” said seventh-grade coach Andy Chapura. “Our defense played great, but our offense struggled. We just didn’t hold on to the football.”

The Packers took the opening kickoff and ran three plays before throwing their first pick on a third-and-14 from the Tift 14.

After forcing a Tift punt, the Packers got one first down before throwing a second interception.

Again, Tift was unable to capitalize, but their second punt ended up giving the Packers all the points they would need for the day.

Rodriguez grabbed the bouncing ball at the Packers 38, crossed the field, headed down the Colquitt sidelines and outran the Blue Devils to the end zone.

My’King Johnson ran in the 2-point conversion and the Packers were up 8-0 with 2:35 left in the first quarter.

Tift fumbled the ball away on its first possession of the second quarter and had an apparent 25-yard touchdown run called back on a holding penalty later in the period.

By the half, the Packers had been outgained 81-20, but still clutched the eight-point lead.

The Blue Devils took the second-half kickoff and drove to the Colquitt 33, where Za’Ryan Yates came up with his first interception of the game.

The Packers fumbled the ball away on its only possession of the the third quarter.

Tift, on a fourth-and-11 from the Packers 36 with just over six minutes left in the game, attempted a halfback pass.

But Colqutt Xylan Spivey picked it off and ran it to the Packers 25.

Colquitt wasted no time in getting some insurance.

On the first play, Calhoun threw long to Irvin, who out-jumped the Tift County defender on the Packers logo in the middle of the field, brought the ball down and cruised to the end zone.

The 2-point conversion failed, but with 5:52 left, the Packers led 14-0.

Colquitt snuffed the final two Tift County possessions with interceptions.

Kaden Spann got the first just three plays after Irvin’s score and appeared to have returned it 68 yards for a touchdown.

But a holding penalty after the pick nullified the score.

Yates turned the lights out on the Blue Devils with his second interception, which came in the Packers end zone with 36 seconds remaining.

The seventh-grade Packers, now 2-0, won with just 89 yards of offense, 75 of which came on the Calhoun-to-Irvin touchdown pass.

The victory came in the first game of a Colquitt County middle school sweep.

The sixth-grade team won the second game, 32-20.

The seventh-grade team will play its next four games on the road, beginning with a trip to play Thomas County Central next Wednesday.