MOULTRIE — At the Packer Booster Club’s Meet the Packers fish fry last week, Colquitt County head football coach Tim Cokely in his comments motioned toward former Packer coaches Ike Aultman and Tom White – two old-school football purists – and said, emphatically, “We’re going to run the football! Run the football!”

When Cokely took over the Colquitt County High football program in January, he gave every indication of opening up the Packer offense, ditching the wing-T, sending out four receivers and stretching the football field.

And at some point, the Packers may do just that. But with four potential game-breaking type running backs and a quarterback who can turn upfield with ball with speed, Colquitt County may in many respects resemble its 2004 forerunner.

Which was plenty good enough to dismantle Meadowcreek in last year’s opener 34-7.

The Mustangs return to Mack Tharpe Stadium at Tom White Field at 8 tonight to kick off the 2005 season with a new coach, but without last year’s Gwinnett County Player of the Year, running back Cameron Smith, who transferred to Brookwood.

The home of the Packers has been refurbished with a new paint job, new press box and remodeled field house.

Before the game, a ceremony naming the field will be named for long time Packers line coach Tom White will be held.

The much-anticipated debut of the 2005 Packers will follow, with Cokely coaching his first game in Georgia after spending the last 10 seasons at the helm of the North Florida Christian School program in Tallahassee.

Cokely led the Eagles to five state championships and posted a 107-24 record in those 10 seasons.

But he faces a large challenge in taking over a program that has settled into a middle-of-the pack position in Region 1-AAAAA over the last five seasons after being one of the state’s most dominant in the 1990s.

Cokely has built a staff around assistants he knows, trusts and expects to be loyal to him.

New offensive coordinator Barney Myers has coached for 30 years and is well-respected. He also is in charge of building the offensive line, virtually from scratch.

Defensive coordinator Bill Ragans has 14 years of experience in north Florida high school football.

Like Myers, defensive line coach Ryan Smith and receivers coach Matt Greene coached under Cokely at North Florida Christian. Quarterbacks coach Robert Craft and tight ends coach Courtney Davenport played for him.

Linebackers coach Darius Dawson is the lone holdover from Mike Singletary’s final staff, although running backs coach James Stancil and secondary coach Dextra Polite worked with the ninth-graders the last couple of years.

This season may be the most eagerly anticipated since 1983, when Jim Hughes moved up from Thomasville to take over the Packers program.

And Cokely is well-aware of the expectations. It was brought home even more when nearly 1,000 fans paid $5 each to watch the scrimmage against Cairo last week, despite several other community events being held at the same time.

“It will be opening night, we’re naming the field, it’s the beginning for a new coach,” Cokely said. “It’s an important time.

“This is a new start in a lot of ways. This community really likes watching its kids play. We’re definitely looking forward to it.”

Meadowcreek went 0-10 last year and comes in with its sixth coach in eight seasons in Reggie Perry. The Mustangs play in the daunting Region 8-AAAAA that also includes last year’s state runner-up Parkview and perennial state championship contender Brookwood.

The biggest blow to the struggling program came during the off-season when running back Cameron Smith, who gained 3,100 yards the last two seasons and was named the Gwinnett County Player of the Year last season, transferred to Brookwood.

Meadowcreek must also play Thomas County Central and Lowndes before jumping into its region schedule.

Cokely faces some of the same questions that Singletary faced last year, especially concerning the offense.

But the Packers broke out with 34 points in their opener against Meadowcreek, then stunned Thomas County Central in a 42-30 victory in 2004.

Cokely has used the term “vanilla” to describe both offenses in general and his specifically during the preseason.

The Packers offense was unable to score in six preseason scrimmage quarters, but Cokely kept things basic, using a lot of option and throwing just 15 times.

Senior quarterback Sam Heath will start his 23rd straight game for the Packers tonight.

“Sam’s a good, hard runner,” Cokely said. “He makes good decisions. He’s shown a lot of leadership and he plays tough. It’s a privilege to have a quarterback with those attributes.”

Fullback Kelvin Watts had 16 carries in the scrimmage games, but Orion Ponder, B.J. Howard and Tracey Brown are likely to see the ball more often now the games count. And if they can wear down opposing defenses, the Packers may find throwing the ball less difficult.

“I like play-action passing,” said Cokely. “It gives you more lanes to throw in.”

Junior quarterback Channing Hudson also will get some playing time tonight. Cokely said that over his coaching career, he has been able to get two quarterbacks significant snaps.

“We want to get Channing in the game,” Cokely said. “He played well against Cairo. He had a nice run and he’s getting more experience.”

The offensive line has only one player – right tackle Marcus Robinson – who started a game last year. The other tackle, B.J. Baker, guards Brandon Coleman, Brandon Richards and Terrence Grant and center Tyler Brooks and tight end B.J. Johnson received little playing time last season.

Jeremy DeBruce is back to start at wide receiver and offers Heath and Hudson a tall, fast and veteran target. Jacolby King and Ashondi Magwood also could line up wide, as will Ponder, Brown and Howard in spread formations.

The Packers defense allowed just one touchdown in six scrimmage quarters and was especially effective in bottling up Cairo’s All-State fullback candidate Fabian Cooper.

In the down positions, the Packers have used Bart Sims, Willie Carr, Cory Jordan, Marty Lawton, Brandon Walton and Javaris Jackson.

The starting inside linebackers are likely to be seniors Kamari Peterson and Michael Murray, with Stephen Adcock and Derek Illian getting a number of snaps.

The outside positions, called “rover” and “bandit” in Ragans’ terminology, also have been played by a number of players, including Peterson, Jackson, Reggie Mathis and Melvin Dabney.

Starting strong safety Josh Brown also may find himself playing closer to the line of scrimmage on occasion.

Brown will be joined in the secondary by starting cornerbacks Antwan Tuff, Vance Cuff and safety Dontrell Johnson. Ronald Wilson and Justin Walker are getting more repetitions in the secondary and could receive help from offensive cross-overs DeBruce, Ponder and Tracey Brown.

Matt DeMott, in his first year out for football, appears to have nailed down the place-kicking position. He was perfect on both attempts against Cairo.

Cokely said Stephen Adcock, who handled all the place-kicking last year, will be available for long field goal attempts and again will do the kickoffs.

Junior Carter Jones has been charged with both the long and short snapping. Junior receiver Tyler Mobley will be the holder.

“I consider all of them starters,” Cokely said. “They’ve all worked hard, they’ve all lifted weights. They’re all equal parts of our team.

“We’ll play all of them.”