MOULTRIE – It seemed a bit puzzling at first.

Why would Tucker High School, one of the top football programs in the state, enter into a contract – as it did last year – that would mean it would play three hours and 206 miles away at Colquitt County two years in a row.

And, remember, when the arrangements were made, the Packers were coming off a 30-game winning streak that meant back-to-back state championships in the state’s highest classification.

But for Tucker head coach Bryan Lamar, it was a no-brainer.

“We like to travel in case we have to travel in the playoffs,” Lamar said this week as his team prepared for Friday’s 8 p.m. game against the Packers on the Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium.

“And it always helps to play good teams. We played Grayson in the spring, Buford before the season and Kell in the season-opener. We like to be challenged. It gets us ready for the playoffs.”

And like Colquitt County, Tucker is a mainstay in the postseason and usually a championship contender.

Tucker last won a state title in 2011 when Franklin Stephens guided the Tigers to a 15-0 record.

Stephens then decamped to Ware County.

All Lamar has done since succeeding Stephens is lead Tucker to a 57-13 record and two championship game appearances in the last four seasons.

The Tigers were 14-1 in 2013, losing to Creekside in the championship game. Last year they sported a 13-2 record and fell to Valdosta in the finals 17-7.

Among those 13 wins last season was the come-from-behind 21-20 Saturday matinée victory over the Packers in a game that had been postponed from a Friday night kickoff due to severe weather that passed through the night before.

The Tigers trailed 20-3 early in the second half, but rallied to win on a touchdown and 2-point conversion with under seven minutes left.

Asked to compare his 2016 and 2017 models, Lamar said they were “just different” and then said, “We might be more experienced this year, but are probably not as deep as last year.”

Tucker had to rally to beat Kell 28-27 in overtime in the Corky Kell Classic and laid the wood to Lakeside of Atlanta last Friday, winning 54-0.

The offense is led, as Colquitt’s is, by a multi-purpose running attack featuring Toro Taylor, who Packer fans might remember scooting around the stadium last year with that game-winning touchdown, Gerry Vaughn and David Davis Jr.

Taylor is averaging 7.6 yards a carry for 122 yards. Vaughn has run for 107 yards; Davis for 63.

Taylor also returned three punts for 132 yards. Yes, a 44-yard average.

But the passing game, especially the combination of quarterback Travon Ford and receiver Josh Vann, is what is cutting into Packer defensive coordinator Mo Dixon’s sleep.

In two games, Ford has completed 18-of-29 passes for 341 yards and five scores.

Vann had 11 catches for 229 yards and five scores. He also has run a punt back 75 yards for a touchdown.

“He’s an exceptional talent,” Lamar said of Vann, who will be wearing No. 1 on Friday night and is heading to South Carolina next year. “He’s a four-year starter for us and has great hands, phenomenal hands.

In his three-plus years playing for the Tigers, Vann has scored 33 touchdowns.

Tucker also boasts what could be one of the top defenses in the state.

And that defense could be getting even better as it gets healthier.

“We were kind of banged up early on,” Lamar said. “We are just now getting everyone back into the fold.”

That is probably not what Packers coach Rush Propst and his offensive coordinator Jeff Hammond wanted to hear.

Leading the Tigers defense will be linebacker Michael Harris, an all-state performer who was the Region 4-AAAAAA Defensive Player of the Year last season while playing for rival Lovejoy.

But he is not the only one capable of disrupting the Packers’ plans for moving the chains.

Vaughn, who also plays linebacker, is committed to Iowa State. Outside linebacker Tre Leslie is headed to Western Kentucky. Cornerback Tylan Oglesby is committed to Middle Tennessee State. Garren McKinney, the other corner, is likely going to Cornell.

And Lamar says one of his best secondary players is senior Trevon Flowers, a star on the Tucker baseball team who is playing football for the first time.

Despite the logjam of talent, Lamar says his team could have its hands full with a Packers team that is 2-0 after wins over Norcross and Vista Murrieta from California.

“They are always going to be well-coached,” Lamar said. “Offensively, their quarterback does a good job of getting the ball out of there real quick. They’ve got some play-makers, their offensive line is big and physical and they are going to ride those two really, really good backs.

“We know they break down a lot of film and they are good at finding weaknesses and attacking those weaknesses. We have to be disciplined, adjust to the formations, motions and shifts and make the tackles in space.

He termed the Packers defense “salty” and said he was impressed with the group’s athleticism with how fast they get to the football.

Lamar said that if his team stays healthy, it has a chance to return to the state championship game.

And playing Colquitt County should help prepare them for another long run.

“It’s going to be a tough game,” he said. “We’ll have to see how our kids deal with that adversity.”