MOULTRIE — After having come excruciatingly close three years before, Colquitt County earned its first state football championship in 1994.
And it was even more gratifying for the Packers and their fans since the title was won at Mack Tharpe Stadium against the program’s principal rival and longtime nemesis, Valdosta High, to cap a 15-0 season.
And it was second win of the season over the Wildcats.
Head coach Jim Hughes and many of his assistants, Packer players and cheerleaders will be honored at halftime of Friday’s home football game against Richmond Hill.
The Packers lost the 1991 state championship game to LaGrange 17-16 on a field goal with 13 seconds remaining.
There would be no late heroics to spoil the 1994 season, however.
After winning five of their final six games of the 1993 season, the Packers were expected to be strong enough for a deep run in the Class AAAA playoffs.
Colquitt opened the season with a 27-6 victory over Thomas County Central, which had won back-to-back Class AAA state titles and would add another in 1994.
The game gave a hint as to what would be the Packers strong suit all season: a swarming, opportunistic defense that help hold the opposition to just 101 points all season.
Linebacker David Hunt scored on an interception return and Jerry Jones on a fumble recovery. Neal Clements also kicked a pair of field goals in the game.
The next week, the Packers took a 31-7 win over Thomasville, the team Hughes had coached to a pair of state titles earlier in his career.
Both Colquitt quarterbacks — Cliff Henry and Matt Parker — threw touchdown passes to Ronald Bonner and the defense picked off four passes.
The defense played a big role again the following week with five quarterback sacks in the 31-0 win over Dougherty.
Colquitt went to 3-0 with a 30-6 victory over Josey in which sophomore Carlos Johnson scored touchdowns on a reverse and on a pass from Henry.
Over the next four games, Colquitt scored just 40 points, but the defense kept the Packers unbeaten.
The Packers opened region play with a 7-3 victory over Bainbridge, accomplished when Henry threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Bonner with 23 seconds remaining.
Bonner, who was injured, was not in uniform in the first half, but returned later in the game.
Colquitt then went to Waycross to blank Ware County 13-0.
The next week, Valdosta scored on a first-quarter punt return, but the Packers got a 2-yard touchdown run from Lavasky King and a 38-yard field goal by Clements to get the win.
Following an off-week, the Packers traveled to Lowndes and got a second-straight 10-7 win.
The Packers offense returned with a fury in a 42-10 win over Tift County that clinched the region title. Bonner caught 10 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns and cornerback Dextra Polite intercepted three passes, returning one for a score.
Colquitt finished the regular season with a 38-6 win over Coffee.
The Packers met the Trojans again in the region playoff and got a 67-yard punt return for a touchdown from Johnson in a 24-6 win.
Colquitt played host to all four state playoff games, beginning with a 38-0 shutout of Camden County.
Against East Coweta the next week, the Packers built a 24-7 lead, but had to stop the Indians at the 1 with 17 seconds remaining. Polite, who earlier had returned an interception for a touchdown, knocked down a pass in the end zone to clinch the win.
Colquitt cruised in the state semifinal, taking down Marietta 34-3.
And then, in front of a packed stadium, the Packers won the title 23-10, getting two pass interceptions from Chris Davis and shutting down the Wildcats until the game had been decided.
Clements got his 12th field goal of the season, Henry scored on a 1-yard run and threw a 39-yard scoring pass to Johnson and Tim Sanders had a 34-yard scoring run to give the Packers a 23-3.
The Packers were ranked as high as No. 3 in some national polls and after being ranked No. 1 in the state Class AAAA in the third week of the season, they never relinquished it.
Hughes’s staff included Kevin Giddens, John Redmond, James Stancil, Darrell Funderburk, Mike Singletary, Jimmy Francis, Tony Kirkland, Scott Rider, Keith H

all and trainer Shannon Dean.
The joy of the perfect record and state championship was tempered when King, the team’s leading rusher, was killed in an automobile wreck three weeks after the season.
The Packers had dedicated the season to the memory of defensive lineman Darby Dalton, who died in an automobile accident in 1993.
Bonner, Polite, Jones and Clements were named to the All-State first team.
Henry and linebacker Jesse Sutton received honorable mention.
Named to the All-Region 1-AAAA first team were Henry, Clemens, Bonner, Jones, Sutton, Polite, cornerback Jeff Davis and offensive tackle Blake Carruthers.
Johnson, defensive tackle Terry Turner and center Brian Daniels were named to the second team.
Tight end Todd Hall, defensive end Tyree King and defensive tackle Danny Walker received honorable mention.