MOULTRIE – On Friday night, in their home stadium that will have less than half of the fans that normally shake, rattle and roll when their favorites take the field, break the huddle, get a turnover or score, the Colquitt County football team will play a game for the second time this season after an unexpected two-week respite.

Even after the season was moved back from its original Aug. 21 start, the Packers were quarantined into canceling the first two games against Marietta and Brookwood at the 11th hour.

Coach Justin Rogers, in just his second season, managed to marshal his troops and win what was, in essence, the Packers’ third scheduled opener on Sept. 18.

Colquitt hardly looked rusty, despite the interruptions to training and preparation and a lineup that featured a bunch of newbies, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

The Packers treated their faithful to a 51-0 victory over Banneker that helped take their minds off of the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus.

After winning three more games, one a satisfying decision over the Rush Propst-coached Valdosta Wildcats and two others in which the men in black scored nine touchdowns per, the Packers seemed back at square one times three.

Not long after taking apart Northside in Warner Robins, the Packers were slapped with another self-quarantine, which has left them, again, with minimal preparation time for an opponent.

The difference this time is the quality of the opponent.

Not to dis Banneker, but Camden County, which makes the excursion to Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium on Friday, plays a different brand of football.

And the Wildcats have played that brand seven times already this season with, admittedly, varying degree of success.

The Packers still have the same 4-0 record they brought back from Warner Robins back on Oct. 9.

So there will be a little experience and preparation gap between the two teams at kickoff.

Plus, Rogers points out, in what will be the Region 1-7A opener for both schools, “We’ve got to face a Bob Sphire-coached football team.”

Sphire has a 278-100 record in Kentucky, at North Gwinnett and at Camden County. He is one of the most respected coaches in the state.

But his fourth Camden team has been an anomaly to some observers.

After a season-opening loss to what is proving to be an excellent Richmond Hill team, the Wildcats won four straight, including a 24-21 takedown of defending Class 7A state champion Marietta.

But in their last two games, the Wildcats have proved pedestrian.

On the night Colquitt County was thrashing Northside 63-14, Camden was losing to Coffee 33-13.

Then Camden fell hard to Warner Robins, 43-7.

Rogers is not likely to let Camden’s record or its performances in its last two games affect what little time remains to get ready for the Wildcats.

“The game against Warner Robins just got away from them,” Rogers said. “They gave up a couple of big plays and weren’t able to respond. And Warner Robins is a good football team.

“Plus, they will be fired up for region play.”

Offensively, the Wildcats have the region’s leading passer in Josh Brown, who has thrown for 873 yards and eight touchdowns.

Colquitt County is rightly proud of its cadre of receivers, but Camden’s is pretty spiffy, too.

Shawn Hardy leads the region with 29 catches for 446 yards and three touchdowns. Deonte Cole has 28 receptions for 328 yards and five scores.

And Camden has what Rogers characterized as a huge offensive line, led by mammoth Micah Morris, one of the top tackles in the nation.

Defensively, the Wildcats have an exotic blitz package and an active defensive front.

What the Wildcats have been lacking recently is running back Jamie Felix.

One of the top backs in the state, Felix has been held out with hamstring problems, Rogers said before asking the obvious: “Is this the week he comes back?”

Rogers is obviously worried about the threat the Wildcats pose, but he has concerns in his own backyard.

The team was held to restricted practices on Saturday and Sunday and was not back in full pads until Monday.

“How are we going to look after our third restart?” Rogers asked. “I know the kids are going to be super excited. We haven’t been home in forever (since beating Valdosta on Sept. 25).

“But what are we going to look like in the third and fourth quarters? Are we going to be in football shape after two weeks?”

The shutdown right before the season was demoralizing enough, but after four straight wins?

“I really felt like we were starting to click,” he said. “I liked where we were heading and I still do. But we’ve got to go from zero-to-60 in a week. We’ll be fresh. That’s a positive. But what will our timing look like? What will our pad level be like?”

The football staff challenged the players to try to stay in shape during their quarantine.

“It’s all been on the honor system,” he said, but added, “We’ve got a good group, a mature group. They’ve been through this starting and stopping. They knew what to expect.”

Offensively, the Packers are likely to start Trey McCoy and JaQuavian Daniels at the tackles, Nakia Benefield Jr. and Cam Strange at the guards; Tyler Meads at center; Lemeke Brockington, Baby D Wheeler and Orion Bonner at receiver; Ontavious Carolina at tight end; Jamaree Hill at running back and Xavier Williams at quarterback.

Williams is the Packers’ leading passer (52-for-84 for 844 yards and 12 touchdowns) and rusher (24 carries for 159 yards and two touchdowns).

Wheeler is the leading receiver with 13 receptions for 186 yards and four touchdowns. Lemeke Brockington has 11 catches for 283 yards and five scores. Bonner has 10 catches for 132 yards.

Across the defensive front will be Zy Brockington, Vendarion “Big Boi” Knighton, Milton Barfield and Marcus Ponder. At the linebacker positions will be Pershaun Fann, Desmond Reese, Antwan Daniels, Gamal Wallace and Alexander Florence.

In the secondary will be Omarian Daniels, Jaheim Ward, Justin Sinclair, Traveon Tuff and Antonio Spradley.

Emmanuel Perez will do the place-kicking, kicking off and punting.

Max Parker will be the long snapper.

PACKERS NOTES: Rogers is now 13-3 since taking over the Colquitt County program in 2019. … Camden County has lost six straight games to the Packers dating back to 2014. The Wildcats are 1-6 in Moultrie. … Sphire is 1-6 against Colquitt County (1-3 while at North Gwinnett and 0-3 since being at Camden County). … Dating back to 1992, Colquitt County is 11-5 against Camden County