Colquitt County running back Jae Lamar will announce on Wednesday where he plans to play college football. (Connie Southwell/The Moultrie Observer)

MOULTRIE – The Colquitt County football team will take a break from its grueling June practice schedule to spend time with teammate Jae Lamar as he announces his college commitment.
The highly recruited senior running back has narrowed his choice of where he will play beginning in 2026 to six of the top programs in the nation: Georgia, Auburn, Clemson, Miami, Georgia Tech and Florida State.
At 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, a ceremony will be held in the Colquitt County gymnasium during which Lamar will unveil his choice.
In just his first year of varsity competition last season, Lamar rushed for 885 yards on just 112 carries, a 7.9-yard per attempt average, while scoring 11 touchdowns.
He also caught eight passes for 172 yards and two more scores.
His athleticism, balance and explosiveness quickly caught the eyes of college recruiters.
He has taken all his official visits, including one to Georgia on Saturday, Packers coach Sean Calhoun said.
When asked about Lamar’s decision, Calhoun said the attention Lamar has received is well-deserved and that the choice of where he will play next is the player’s.
But, he added “Could you really go wrong with any of them?”
After Wednesday’s ceremony, Colquitt County will hold its final June practice the next day.
A group of players will travel that day to Cairo for a padded camp that also will feature teams from Houston County and Worth County.
The following week will be the Georgia High School Association’s second and final “dead week.”
The team will continue preparations on Monday, July 7.
There will be a padded camp at the high school on July 14-15 and the GHSA’s “acclimation week” will begin on July 21.
Practice for the 2025 season will begin in earnest on Monday, July 28.
The Packers will travel to Bainbridge on Thursday, Aug. 7, for the 7 p.m. preseason scrimmage.
Colquitt, which went 8-4 and won its third-straight region championship last season, will open at 7:30 p.m. on Friday Aug. 15, against Benedictine in the Hawg Pen.
The Packers competed in two 7-on-7 competitions in recent weeks.
On June 11, the Packers 7-on-7 team took part in a competition at Florida State in which it went 3-0-1 in pool play before being eliminated by Vero Beach, Fla.
The following Wednesday, the Packers went to Gainesville, Fla., to compete and went 3-1 in pool play.
Colquitt won its first game in the championship round before losing to Vanguard High of Ocala, Fla.
Calhoun said he and his staff use the 7-on-7s to determine how the receivers will perform “when the ball is in the air” and how well the secondary can cover receivers.
“We competed and made some plays,” Calhoun said. “We played a lot of kids. And we left both of them with a lot to build on.”
Cohen Lawson, who started 10 of the Packers 12 games last year as a freshman, got most of the snaps in the two competitions.
Rising junior Arbashaun Curry and rising freshman MJ Fowler also got plenty of work.
A’Zhiyen Alridge, who started two games at quarterback last season when Lawson was injured, was used primarily as a receiver.
Veterans Malik Walker and Na’Ryan Sumlin and rising junior Ameir Knighton also worked at receiver.
The two primary tight ends were rising senior Alexis Barge and rising junior Ethan Ruffin.
In addition to Lamar, the Packers used rising senior Ja’Mari Stokes, rising sophomore Jason Stephenson and newcomer Denim Lewis in the backfield.
The 7-on-7s and Thursday’s padded camp help break the grind of summer work.
The Packers have practiced Monday through Thursday the last three weeks.
A typical day includes a team breakfast followed by a 7:57 a.m. meeting.
After the meeting, the team either lifts weights or practices.
Later in the morning, the team eats lunch and players depart around noon.
“What we do in the summer is difficult and weight room is difficult,” Calhoun said. “It’s a grind for the players and the coaches.
“During the summer, we want to see who our starters will be and create some backup. And there is always a fine line. You’ve got to get the work in, but you don’t want to burn everybody out. I’m proud of what we’ve been able to do.”
PACKERS NOTES: The Colquitt County players and coaches helped with Jay Ward’s first youth camp on Saturday at the high school.
Ward is a former Packer and LSU defensive back who has played the last two seasons for the Minnesota Vikings.
Also, on Friday, the Eastern Kentucky University football team’s web page carried a story on Colonels rising senior defensive back Jaheim Ward, Jay’s younger brother.
Jaheim played three years at Austin Peay before transferring to Eastern Kentucky last season.
He played in all 12 games for the Colonels, starting 10 and making the third-most tackles on the team with 66.
He had five tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, two interceptions and nine pass breakups.
His play earned him a berth on the All-United Athletic Conference second team.