MOULTRIE – Not one time in 2018 has a Colquitt County High football game gone down to the last play, timed or untimed.

If that’s how things play out in the semifinals Friday, when the No. 1 13-0 Packers host 11-2 Archer High on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium, the visiting team will be in a better position to know how to handle the pressure.

Rush Propst’s Packers are on a roll, both when it comes to scoring and holding another team down (despite the 28 put up by McEachern in the 7A second round, most of which were in the second half when CC led 42-7). The 13 wins are by an average margin of victory of more than 33 points, and the defense only allows nine points per game. It couldn’t have been scripted better in the quarterfinals on either side of the football, Colquitt destroying defending champion North Gwinnett at home 45-0.

Now here comes Archer, and perhaps these Tigers are sensing a little payback of their own. It was in the 2017 quarterfinals, the day after Thanksgiving on a frigid evening in Lawrenceville. Andy Dyer’s defensive unit held Colquitt County not only to its season-low point total, but kept an offense with that powerful running game and strong-armed quarterback out of the end zone. It wasn’t enough.

Ryan Fitzgerald kicked four field goals, one a free kick of a school-record 60 yards, and the Packers’ march to the state finals moved on 12-7.

Archer scored the game’s only touchdown, a 55-yard pass from then-sophomore quarterback Carter Peevy. It wasn’t enough. He was intercepted three times, two coming from then-sophomore Packer cornerback Nyquan Washington.

One year later, the Tigers had to carry high aspirations because so much of that squad was returning. That includes a secondary where two members want to play for the Clemson Tigers: 6-1 cornerback Andrew Booth and 6-1 safety Jalyn Phillips. Up front, 6-4 end Colby Wooden is committed to the Auburn Tigers. Wooden was responsible for one of seven quarterback sacks in the 2017 playoff meeting.

“The problems they pose is not allowing Ty Leggett or Daijun Edwards or one of your top athletes to go house on a long run,” said Propst lauding the Archer defense. “They have elite athletes who can run you down.”

The brief Colquitt-Archer history didn’t start last year, but in the 6A finals of 2014. In the Georgia Dome, Colquitt completed a 15-0 season winning 28-24. Propst said even then the Tiger defense was such that his top rusher, Sihiem King, gained no more than 12 yards in any one carry. King did carry 33 times for 135 yards.

“We won because we stayed patient,” said Propst.

“Anytime you go against elite athletes going to Clemson, Auburn, it always poses a problem. But, week in and week out in 7A football in Georgia, you are going to see that a lot. I am sure they are saying the same thing about going against Jay Ward, Edwards, Leggett or Fitzgerald. There are always matchups. There are always problems that come about. You have to deal with it your own special way.

“They are a good defensive football team. They held us to no touchdowns last year. On the same token they (only scored once). (This year) it looks like it’s going to be a close, tough, hard-fought ball game, but it’s the semifinals in 7A. You are supposed to be in tough, hard-fought games. All of the semifinals I’ve been in have been pretty tight except for maybe one or two.”

What Archer must contend with is a Packer offensive line playing perhaps beyond elite level football. It was a unit fully in tact for the first time in two months as center Will Rykard played three full quarters vs. North Gwinnett.

“We have to be physical and consistent up front,” said Propst. “You have to control the trenches. I would say 90 percent of the time whoever controls the trenches is going to control the game. The skill athletes always get a lot of praise, but it’s trench warfare.”

Offensively, no one can say Archer is struggling with such winning results as 42-0 over Mill Creek, 37-0 over Norcross and 48-24 against a Buford squad that just said goodbye to its head coach John Ford after two seasons.

There was a stumble, however, to start the season, but Milton High proved its 21-19 win at Georgia State Stadium (Corky Kell Classic) wasn’t a fluke by reaching the 7A semifinals itself. When many in southwest Georgia didn’t have television reception or power the day after Hurricane Michael made landfall, Archer took a big 41-14 loss to Grayson on ESPN2.

But what’s that about last-second heroics? In the last two playoff rounds, Archer advanced with scoring plays on its final offensive snaps. It’s how they beat Parkview 36-29 on the road and survived the Tift County challenge at home 16-10 in overtime. Semaje Banks bullied his way to score the winning touchdown over Tift as part of his 120-yard game on the ground.

“Anytime you get a quarterback back, you have a chance to be better,” said Propst. “They are better (offensively) because their quarterback’s better. He started some as a 9th grader, so that kid’s been around. It’s not going to be too big a moment for him. He will be well prepared, and we will have to go out and beat him.

“You can’t arm tackle that running back. And you have to do it for 48 minutes. If we don’t, we have no chance.”

Peevy is throwing the football to both Booth and senior Braylen Weems.

Some other names for Archer are coming through as well, Emmanuel Michal recovering a fumble in the end zone vs. Parkview and Edwin Mangual intercepting Tift’s Patrick Felton in the Blue Devils’ only overtime possession.

Will Colquitt have the third-down offensive success of a week ago, and the short-yardage success on defense? Propst said Archer was 1-for-11 on third down in the 2014 finals. The Packers were 7-for-10 last week.

What is also surprising, at least to Packer fans, is that not one time in these first four playoff weeks does anyone need to make a road trip to the Atlanta area. Everything worked out – including one coin toss – for the region champions of 1-7A to play at home four weeks in a row (Archer was second to Grayson in 8-7A).

“The key to the game to me is our emotional level,” said Propst. “We were emotionally ready to go last week. That was the fourth time this year I thought we were at that level. We have to get to that level again or we run the risk of getting beat.

“I’m very proud of our fan base last week. The crowd was a factor in the game. It can be a factor in the game again. That may be the second biggest factor, our crowd noise. I think our defense plays to our crowd. I’m appreciative of this community rallying around this football team.”

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Colquitt County High football is now officially on the most successful 10-year playoff run of any Georgia team in the GHSA’s highest classification. The shutout of North Gwinnett was Colquitt’s 35th playoff win in 42 games since 2009 (83 percent), and that run includes now nine semifinal appearances.

The Packers surpassed the 34 wins for Parkview, which won four state championships during a 10-year span (1996-2005). But Parkview also lost four times in the quarterfinals.

Colquitt’s total number of games the last 10 seasons is up to 142 with a record of 114-28 (80 percent). While this 10-year run is still on-going, the Pack will not catch Parkview in total wins, 122 in 140 games. Valdosta High, when it was in the highest classification, won 141 games with six state championships in 11 years from 1982-92.

However, Propst said that record is not the biggest prize. It is, however, a standard he doesn’t feel will be reached again; it go up to 37 with a 15-0 record.

“Winning a state title is more important,” he said.

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The likelihood of GHSA championship football games taking place Dec. 11-12 instead of Dec. 7-8 became greater Sunday when Atlanta United defeated the New York Red Bulls 3-0 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. New York needed to outscore Atlanta by four goals or take it to overtime Thursday for any chance to host the MLS Cup scheduled to be held Dec. 8 at the site of the team with the better overall record.

If Atlanta is the host, that pushes, as was arranged before the start of the 2018 season, the GHSA football finals to the middle of the following week. Class 7A would then be at 8 p.m. Dec. 12.