MOULTRIE – Ryan Fitzgerald as a punter can sometimes be like reverse acupuncture. It’s after he pins you that the pain begins. Because of the senior All-American, Thomasville High’s freshman quarterback had a rude introduction to football at the Hawg Pen.

Daijun Edwards rushed 15 times for 156 yards and two touchdowns, and quarterback Jaycee Harden matched his performance from the week before with three touchdown passes. Colquitt County, behind these juniors, the kicking game and some defensive scoring, dominated Thomasville High 50-3 Friday on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium.

Both teams at near opposite ends of the classification spectrum in the GHSA but less than half an hour apart geographically entered the game 2-0 and ranked in the top three of their respective classes. It was also the first meeting as coaches between Rush Propst of the Packers and his former assistant, Zach Grage of the visiting Bulldogs.

With the 2A Thomasville team – coming off a hugely successful 12-1 season – trying to upend the 7A Colquitt County squad on the road, one would think everything needed to be perfect from the opening snap. But the Bulldogs’ first snap had them scrambling back to the end zone, and the Packer defensive surge led by Kendrick Neloms and Camari Louis laid a hit that brought two safety points.

The Bulldog defense held Colquitt County – with two 40-point-plus games already – on the opening drive even after Edwards and Harden gained two first downs into Thomasville territory. Propst sent Fitzgerald onto the field, not to attempt a 58-yard field goal but to line up in the punting unit. Fitzgerald placed the football on the 5-yard-line.

Grage is starting a freshman in Chad Mascoe at quarterback, and he’s given his coach two rivalry wins already against Cairo and Thomas County-Central. But every QB so far facing the Packers in 2018 seems to be able to expect one bad snap, and Mascoe got his the first time he set up his offense.

Down 2-0 at 9:20 of the quarter, the Bulldogs got their share of breaks but could not capitalize.

Thomasville recovered two Packer fumbles in successive series. The Bulldogs recovered the second bobble on the Packer 20-yard-line, but on 3rd-and-4 Colquitt linebacker Marcus Anderson recovered Thomasville’s fumble on the 23.

The Packers marched the 77 yards on seven plays. Ty Leggett, after missing the Aug. 25 home game vs. Trinity Catholic (Mo.) to injury, gave Harden the block on the pass rush for a 28-yard completion to Marvion McDonald. From the Bulldog 24, Harden hit KT Wilson in the end zone at 3:05 of the first quarter.

Though the Bulldogs were still in the game down 9-0, the backbreaking turnover occurred as they went on the move toward midfield. Mascoe got a good catch from Payten Singletary over the 50, but cornerback Nyquan Washington ripped the football away. It was Packer possession on the 32 due to a dead-ball penalty, but that did not deter Propst’s running game.

Edwards, with his offensive front opening the space, burst forward 49 yards to the Bulldog 19. Two plays later, Ja’Naz Graves, the inside receiver in a trips set, caught an 18-yard touchdown throw from Harden on the move. There were 41 seconds left in the quarter, and the score was 16-0.

Linebacker Rashard Revels ended the quarter sacking Mascoe. To start the second quarter, Colquitt went 43 yards in five plays. Edwards went into the ‘wild hawg’ and got the block from guard Conner Gay to score his first touchdown, a nine-yard run at 8:50 until halftime. Fitzgerald was doing his PAT work without issue, three in a row making the score 23-0.

The Bulldogs did not get a first down that did not come from a penalty in the period with Neloms and end Brian Merritt stuffing short-yardage situations. To make their matters worse, Fitzgerald hit a punt 45 yards rolling dead on the 1. His third such kick in the first half spotted the visitors on their 13.

Mascoe was flirting with intentional grounding in the last two series with his back to the end zone, and the flag finally came out on a 3rd-and-7. Najarien McWhorter, in the final minute before halftime, blocked a punt. Revels picked the football up in the end zone to get six more points. At the half, the Packers were in command 29-0.

Propst was looking for a better third-quarter performance than the previous two weeks. Two solid touchdown drives, Kree Herring’s sack and takeaway points were what he received Friday.

Edwards found holes and made great moves to gain 45 yards on four totes, and his only catch of the game resulted in 17 yards. The Packers were 3rd-and-4 on the THS 18 when Edwards got his reception downed at the 1. He plunged into the end zone for the second time at 6:35.

Mar’Kaybion Spradley allowed Edwards to take the rest of the night off, and he gained 47 yards on three carries in the next Packer possession. Harden, at 2:40 of the third, found Carter Boatwright, tight end, for his first touchdown catch of 2018. That was a six-yarder to go with Boatwright’s first catch of the season for 13 yards to start the drive. Fitzgerald also completed his work making all five of his PATs (43-0).

Jay Ward intercepted Mascoe 16 game seconds later and returned the football 34 yards for the last Packer TD. Alex Romulo got credit for kicking point No. 50.

The lone Bulldog points were from kicking, Hurston Waldrep’s 41-yard field goal two plays into the final quarter.

Harden was 12-for-17 passing for 163 yards. For the second week in a row, nine different Packers had a reception. Mascoe completed 11 passes for 110 yards, including a 40-yard strike in the first period.