Similar teams to meet in semifinal at The Hawg Pen

Nov. 29—MOULTRIE — The Georgia High School Football Daily's Maxwell Ratings has projected Colquitt County to win its Class 7A state semifinal game over visiting Carrollton by a point.

Fair enough.

Both are region champions and are 13-0. Carrollton is averaging 44.1 points a game; Colquitt County, 41.3. The Trojans are giving up 14.1 points a game; the Packers, 13.7.

Each scored 52 points in its quarterfinal victory last week, with the Packers eliminating North Gwinnett 52-17 and the Trojans ousting Walton 52-27.

Both have outstanding quarterbacks.

Carrollton's freshman Julian Lewis has completed 66.9 percent of his passes for 3,339 yards and 41 touchdowns.

He was 22-for-32 for 333 yards and four touchdowns in the win over Walton.

"He is a highly recruited kid, an elite quarterback," Packers coach Sean Calhoun said of Lewis. "He is very smart, very accurate and trusts his receiving corps."

Colquitt's junior Neko Fann has hit on 64.6 percent of his throws for 29 touchdowns, including six in the Packers 52-17 win over North Gwinnett last Friday.

He also had a banner night last Friday, completing 15-of-20 passes for 352 yards and a school record-tying six touchdowns.

Trojans junior running back Bryce Hicks, who earned his way into a starting role as a freshman under then-head coach Sean Calhoun, has rushed for 1,368 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Hicks scored five touchdowns against Walton last week.

Colquitt's senior Charlie Pace has rushed for 1,237 yards and 15 touchdowns and is averaging just a tick under nine yards a carry.

Both teams have a bevy of outstanding receivers.

For Carrollton, Hicks has 52 catches; Caleb Odom, 51; Takare Lipscomb, 41; Seth Childers, 31; and Jordan White 28.

The Packers feature three outstanding juniors in Ny Carr, 94 catches; Landen Thomas, 43; and Za'Mari Williams 35.

Both defenses are among the best in the state.

"They are really, really fast on defense," Calhoun said. "They are smart in what they do and they are very physical."

One feature of the Carrollton defense is its ability to create turnovers. In the victory over Walton, Carrollton got three; against Lowndes, four; against Marietta 6.

According to Packers head coach Sean Calhoun, in six of the Trojans top games, they were plus-24 in turnovers.

That should give the Packers pause.

What should give Carrollton pause is that they are facing a program that has won 21 of its last 23 home playoff games.

"I don't think they have played in an environment like they are going to be in on Friday," Calhoun said. "We are hoping that can be an advantage for us."

And, of course, the Packers are led by Calhoun, who was the Trojans head coach from 2016-2020 and probably has a heightened incentive to make sure his team plays its best.

Carrollton's head coach is Joey King, who is 25-2 since replacing Calhoun. King also was 67-4 at Cartersville, where he helped develop quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who went on to start at Clemson and then for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

So the Maxwell Ratings' projected score of Colquitt County 28, Carrollton 27 seems about right.

Even Colquitt County coach Sean Calhoun conceded, "On paper, the numbers look pretty similar."

Calhoun has not dwelt publicly on his time at Carrollton or how he came to leave for Vestavia Hills in Alabama after the 2020 season.

But when he learned that his first Packers team would play Carrollton in the semifinal, he said, "God has a sense of humor."

He is focused on what his team must to do to keep his remarkable record as a Packer coach (43-0 as an assistant from 2014-2015 and as the head coach this season) spotless.

"We have got to take care of the football," he said, referring to the Trojans ability to come up with turnovers. "Those just give the ball to their offense again.

"And when we have the football, we need to score."Defensively?

"We have got to have a short memory," Calhoun said. "They have a good quarterback and some good receivers, so they are going to make some plays.

"We just have to forget about them, come back and make the next play. But we have to minimize the long plays."

Calhoun also wants his team to come up with some big plays on special teams.

"There are some things that we can do to make them uncomfortable," he said.

The result of the game obviously will be determined on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium, but it will be contested by two programs who have been among the finest in Georgia for many years.

Carrollton started playing football in 1909 and over 95 seasons has won 720 games, seventh-most in Georgia high school history behind only Valdosta (944 wins), LaGrange (791), Gainesville (771), Marist (757), Thomasville (756) and Woodward Academy (720).

The Trojans have won 32 region titles and seven state championships over the years.

Carrollton was the 6A runner-up in 2013 and reached the semifinals last year, the first year after King replaced Calhoun, who had gone 52-11 over the five previous seasons.

Calhoun's description of Carrollton could apply to Colquitt County and its romance with football as well.

Moultrie-Colquitt County has won 705 games since it started playing football in 1913.

"It's a community that loves its school system and loves its football," he said of Carrollton. "This will be a great opportunity to play against a historic program like Carrollton.

"Hopefully, we can find a way to win."

The Packers have received exceptional work thi ss season from an offensive line that includes tackles Keshaun Palmore and Turk Daniels, guards Cole Holmes and Ja'Nas Daniels, Jay'Den Williams and substitute Khalil Collins.

Thomas, a junior who has 82 pass receptions and 16 career touchdown catches, will be the tight end.

He has committed to Georgia.

Carr, another junior who also is expected to head to Athens for the 2024 season, has caught 94 passes in his career for 1,772 yards and 22 touchdowns.

He put on a display against North Gwinnett with five catches for 182 yards and two scores.

Williams and Landon Griffin, both of whom gathered in touchdown passes from Fann last week, also are prime targets.

Pace, the 5-foot-10 back who is in the short rows of an outstanding career, has rushed for 2,931 yards and 35 touchdowns as a Packer.

The Packers also will use Day'Shawn Brown and Ramsey Dennis to run the football.

Fann is continuing his assault on all of the Packer passing records.

In 24 games as the Colquitt County starting quarterback, he has thrown for 4,593 yards and 58 touchdowns.

The school record of 70 touchdown passes, set by Chase Parrish, is clearly within his reach.

The Packers played last Friday without starting nose tackle Julian Harper, who underwent an appendectomy after the win over Harrison.

But the Packers still were able to stuff the touted North Gwinnett rushing attack with Tyshon Reed Jr., Jartavius Flounoy, Javaris Parrish, Malik Gaines and Amari Wilson.

Wilson leads the Packers in tackles for loss with 12 and in sacks with four.

Reed has 10 tackles for loss.

The outside linebackers are Qway McCoy and Daveon Hunt, who had a big sack and fumble recovery in the third quarter against North Gwinnett that helped discourage the Bulldogs.

The Packers' two leading tacklers are inside linebackers Nick Pace, who has 145 tackles, and Kamal Bonner, who has 117 tackles.

Bonner was the Packers defensive player of the week last Friday for his work against the North Gwinnett running game.

Carlos Moore, Ka'Marian Williams and Raheim McBride have been solid at the cornerback positions and will be tested on Friday.

Lyric Thomas and Jack Luttrell have given the Packers exceptional work at the safety positions.

Brett Fitzgerald has converted 57-of-58 extra-point attempts and 11-of-12 field goal attempts.

His kicks have come out of the holds of Eli Meads from snaps from Will Tapscott.

Luttrell is averaging 34.6 yards on his 23 punts. He also gets his snaps from Tapscott.

Ethan Ramirez handles the kickoff duties.

Luttrell has proved dangerous returning kickoffs and punts. He is averaging 33.1 yards on 15 kickoff returns.

The Carrollton-Colquitt County winner will advance to play the survivor of the Mill Creek-Milton game in the state championship game, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 10, at Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta.