MOULTRIE — Colquitt County head football coach Mike Singletary says his team has practiced hard and appears ready for the 150-mile trip to Kingsland today to meet top-ranked Camden County in the first round of the state playoffs.

On paper, it appears a mismatch.

The Packers are 6-4, finished No. 4 in Region 1-AAAAA and have lost three of their last five games.

The Wildcats, coming off a 15-0 season that included a victory over Valdosta in the Class AAAAA state championship a year ago, are 10-0 and have won 25 straight games.

If Colquitt County was one of the dominant teams in Georgia’s highest classification in the 1990s, Camden is proving to be one of the same kinds of powers in this decade.

In the last four seasons, the Wildcats have rolled up a record of 48-2. Head coach Jeff Herron, who also has won a state championship at Oconee High, has a career record of 144-32. Ten players of last year’s state championship team signed to play at the collegiate level this year.

And that team obviously was the best the school has produced. It defeated Lowndes twice and corralled Valdosta quarterback Cedric Hatten in the state championship game. The 2003 Wildcat defense allowed just 16 points in the 10 regular-season games and only 34 in five playoff games.

Only four players – defensive ends Lashun Booth and Ryan Garze, defensive tackle Rod Frison and linebacker William Barnaby – returned from that team for 2004. But the Wildcats have not missed a beat.

Only four offensive starters returned as well, but 10 games into the season, the Wildcats’ wing-T appears in perfect tune.

Challenged just twice this year, the Wildcats responded with a 12-10 victory over Parkview and a 14-12 victory over Bradwell Institute in the Region 3-AAAAA championship game.

Singletary is counting on his players pride to help them meet what many believe is a near-impossible challenge.

But many thought the Packers had no chance against a daunting Newnan team in the 1992 playoffs and Colquitt pulled off one of the biggest upsets in school history.

“They’re just good football team,” Singletary said after reeling off a list of Camden’s strong suits. “It’s going to depend on how much more do we want to play?”

Offensively, the Packers are likely to start an all-senior offensive line that includes center Matthew Mobley, guards Thomas Miller and Josh Fuller and tackles Reid Singletary and Walt Clary. Senior Kyle Allyn and junior Marcus Robinson have received more and more work in recent weeks.

The tight end is senior Chad Walden, whose only reception this season went for a 51-yard touchdown against Coffee.

Senior Sherard Reynolds, who leads the team with 10 touchdowns this season, will be one of wing-T back spots along with Orion Ponder and fullback Kelvin Watts. Jeremy DeBruce, Jamal Carr and Antwan Tuff have been sharing the wide receiver positions.

Senior Mike Mobley has been doing the punting, although Byron Jordan is averaging 47 yards on his six punts this season. Carter Jones is the long snapper.

Stephen Adcock, who has converted 17-of-22 extra point attempts and has hit his only field goal attempt, will be the place-kicker. Reynolds will be the holder of Reid Singletary’s snaps.

On defense, the Packers are likely to start seniors Darien Perry and Antonio Corbin at the ends, with Bart Sims at one of the tackles. The linebackers will be senior leading tackler Mike Mobley and juniors Kamari Peterson and Josh Brown.

Reynolds, Jordan, DeBruce, Vance Cuff, Cecil Lawrence and Dontrell Johnson will get most of the snaps in the secondary.

PACKERS NOTES: Col-quitt County will try to win the school’s first postseason game since 1999, when Jim Hughes’s final team beat Effingham and Warner Robins before falling to Chattahoochee 25-22 in the quarterfinals to finish 11-2.

In other first-round playoff games featuring Region 1-AAAAA team, Lowndes will play host to Windsor Forest High of Savannah at Martin Stadium; Valdosta will entertain Groves High of Garden City; and Houston County will go to Hinesville to meet Bradwell Institute.