Goff selected for Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame

Published 9:30 pm Friday, June 9, 2023

MOULTRIE, Ga. — Before he was the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and later the head coach of the University of Georgia football team, Ray Goff was an outstanding quarterback at Moultrie High School.

Goff led the Packers to a 19-3 record in his two seasons as the team’s starter and took Moultrie to the South Georgia championship game as a senior in 1972.

He was the first Packer to throw for more the 300 yards in a game and was a Parade All-American.

And on Friday, he was honored for his prep accomplishments when he was selected for inclusion in the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame.

Colquitt County’s most recognized and honored football player will be inducted with 39 others at the organization’s second annual banquet on Oct. 21 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

He will be the first former Packer to be enshrined.

The Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame inducted its inaugural 45-member class last fall.

Most Packer fans are familiar with Goff’s accomplishments while operating under center for the Bud Willis-coached Packers in 1971-1972.

Only the die-hards, however, remember that as a sophomore in 1970, he primarily played in the secondary and tied for the Region 1-AAA lead in interceptions with seven.

The Packers went 9-1 that season, losing only to region champion Valdosta.

Willis turned the reins of the offense over to Jim Buck and Betty’s boy in 1971 and did he have a season.

Goff had thrown his first career touchdown pass as a sophomore — connecting with Robbie Faircloth from 21 yards out in a 47-0 win over Central in Thomasville.

But he threw 12 more as a junior, when he completed 87-of-182 passes for a then-school record 1,571 yards.

His first scoring pass that season came in the 21-14 victory over Tift County in the second game. It went for 64 yards to Steve Rea, who fast became his favorite receiver.

In a 34-7 win over Central, Goff had his first two-touchdown pass performance, connecting with Rea and tight end Kirby Clark.

The next week, he threw for two more scores, but the Packers’ five-game winning streak came to an end with a 42-21 loss to Valdosta at Cleveland Field.

Goff threw for 321 yards against the Wildcats, a Packer record that stood until Tyler Brown threw for 335 yards in a 63-28 win over Tift County in 2010.

The Packers also lost to Thomasville 20-7 the next week, but Goff bounced back to throw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Rea in the Homecoming victory over Albany.

Goff’s passing numbers were not as eye-catching in his senior season, but he guided the Packers to 11 straight victories — the most in school history to that point — before the disappointing 16-15 loss to Central of Macon on the tie-breaker in the South Georgia championship game.

Goff threw his final two Packer touchdown passes in the game, one of 8 yards to James Sampson and another for 34 yards to Clark.

Perhaps the biggest game of Goff’s senior season was the 42-14 win over Valdosta in front of an overflow crowd at Mack Tharpe Stadium.

Goff had a 42-yard touchdown pass to Sampson in the game that ended the Wildcats’ 46-game regular-season winning streak.

It also marked the first time the Packers had defeated Valdosta in Moultrie since 1928.

Goff was named to the All-State team by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and was honored as a Parade Magazine All-American.

“He was special, an amazing athlete,” former Packers teammate David “Bull” Durham said. “He was just as good in baseball and basketball.

“But he had a great arm. He could stand on one goal line and throw it to the other goal line. He was a great passer.”

As his father had a quarter-century earlier, Goff went to the University of Georgia, where he became the Bulldogs starter under Vince Dooley in 1975 and led the Bulldogs to a 9-2 regular-season record and a trip to the Cotton Bowl.

As a senior in 1976, he was named a permanent captain and helped lead the Bulldogs to the SEC championship.

He was the SEC Player of the Year and finished seventh in Heisman Trophy voting.

After three years as an assistant coach at South Carolina, he returned to Athens and was an assistant from 1981-1988.

In 1989, at age 33, he was named the Bulldogs head coach succeeding Dooley. He held the job for seven seasons.

Goff was included in the inaugural class of the Colquitt County Sports Hall of Fame in 2000 and last year, Colquitt County’s indoor practice facility was named in honor of both him and former Packer running back Virgil Seay.

This year, Goff joins seven other outstanding high school football stars from the 1970s, including Anthony Flanagan, whose senior season at Southwest Atlanta was 1973; Lucius Sanford, West Fulton, 1973; Eddie Lee Ivery, Thomson, 1974; Ray Donaldson, East Rome, 1975; Mackel Harris, Americus, 1975; Scott Woerner, Jonesboro, 1976; and Guy McIntyre, Thomasville, 1978.

Also selected this year are, pre-1948, Vernon “Catfish” Smith, Lanier-Macon, 1927; Bill Hartman, Georgia Military Prep, 1933; and Billy Henderson, Lanier-Macon, 1945.

From 1949-1959, those selected are Pepper Rodgers, Brown, 1949; and Billy Lothridge, Gainesville, 1959.

Representing the Georgia Interscholastic Association are Ernie Green, Spencer, 1957, and Julius Adams, Ballard-Hudson, 1965.

From the 1960s, selected were Dan Reeves, Americus, 1960; Bruce Bennett, Valdosta, 1961; and Buzy Rosenberg, Northside-Atlanta, 1968.

Four selected players come from the 1980s, including Pat Swilling, Stephens County, 1981; John Davis, Gilmer, 1982; Keith Henderson, Cartersville, 1984; and Ken Swilling, Stephens County, 1987.

The 1990s are represented by 14 players: Al Pinkins, Mitchell-Baker, 1990; Randall Godfrey, Lowndes, 1991; Adam Meadows, McEachern, 1991; Jeff Saturday, Shamrock, 1992; Mike Bobo, Thomasville, 1992; Marcus Stroud, Brooks County, 1994; Quincy Carter, Southwest DeKalb, 1995; Jeff Backus, Norcross, 1995; Deon Grant, Josey, 1995; Jamal Lewis, Douglass, 1996; Jon Stinchcomb, Parkview 1997; Charles Grant, Miller County 1997; Reggie Brown, Carrollton, 1998; and Ronnie Brown, Cartersville, 1999.

Representing the 2000s are D.J. Shockley, North Clayton, 2000; Charles Johnson, Hawkinsville, 2003; Rennie Curran, Brookwood; and Jarvis Jones, Carver-Columbus, 2008.