Best of the Best: Georgia Colquitt County 2015 Football Preview
Written by Ryan Wright
Coach Rush Propst is back at it again, this time with Colquitt County. In 2014 the Packers stormed through Georgia opposition only allowing two teams to finish within four points, Camden County 28-24 and Archer 28-24 in the state championship game, with the rest of the games sans Milton being lopsided runaway wins. Coach Probst even produced a sound thumping of his old team, Hoover, Alabama, winning by a score of 35-14.
Propst rose to national fame leading Hoover High School to five Class 6A Alabama state titles in nine years in the 2000’s. Since taking over for the Packers in 2008 Colquitt has been one of the top teams in the Peach State. In 2014 the Packers did not have to face their playoff nemesis Norcross chalking up wins over Dacula (51-30), Milton (42-35), McEachern (57-20) and Archer for the top honors.
The Moultrie team lost some key talent off their 2014 squad seeing DE T.J. Smith head to Arkansas, LB De’themeyus “Bull” Barge sign with South Alabama, WR Marquan Greene matriculate to Georgia State, LB Quintin Hampton to Central Florida, and RB Sihiem King to Kentucky. In all 16 players off last year’s squad headed to play at the collegiate ranks at various levels.
On defense, Barge will be tough to replace after racking up 185 tackles with 13 tackles for a loss a year ago. On offense, the Packers must replace King’s 2,090 rushing yards and 37 touchdowns. The good news is upwards of 130 players are expected to try out for varsity football this fall leaving the Packers with a lot of Georgia athletes to fill in holes left by graduated seniors.
Expectations are high once again after finishing the 2014 with a national rank of No. 11 but a Max Preps Xcellent ranking of No. 6. The 2015 preseason national high school rankings have the Packers at No. 8 by PrepNation, No. 16 by USA Today, and No. 25 by MaxPreps Xcellent.
Offense
King was the highlight of the offense a year ago but Chase Parrish returns for his senior year after passing for 2,835 yards with 26 touchdowns. Despite throwing nine picks, the 6’0”, 190 pound, mobile quarterback was extremely accurate completing 73 percent of his pass attempts.
When Parrish is in the pocket he has his top two receiving threats from 2014 back again this year, Ty Lee and Kiel Pollard. Lee is a prototypical slot receiver listed at 5’9”, 160 pounds. The speedster pulled in 51 passes for 856 yards showing breakaway speed averaging 17 yards per catch while finding the end zone 12 times. Pollard is a beast listed at 6’1”, 225 pounds. He led the Packers with 66 receptions for 830 yards with seven scores. Parrish also has a big target at tight end with 6’3”, 250 pound, senior Shaun Bonner. Bonner had 22 pass receptions for 175 yards last season. On the other side of the line Chris Bouie is expected to earn a start in two-tight end sets.
The backfield may seem like a turn stall with senior running backs Rafael Merritt and Nate Powell IV along with junior Ty Jones. Jones was the Packers second leading rusher in 2014 as a sophomore with 327 yards on 31 carries and seven touchdowns.
Outside of the big tight ends the Packers only return one proven offensive lineman. The big question for Colquitt is how quickly the offensive line can gel in fall camp. Class of 2017 lineman Quan Strokes (6’2”, 300) might be the next in a long line of Colquitt lineman to play at a Power 5 Conference at the next level. Noah Moore has the size at 6’3”, 320 pounds, to be a starter up front along with 6’3”, 275 pound Kyle Duke, and junior John Keith, listed at 6’3”, 290.
Defense
Tough to not jump to a conclusion that the strength of the Packers team in 2015 is the defense especially with linebackers Ja’Quain Blakely (6’2”, 210) and Dee Walker (6’3”, 210) roaming the field. Blakely is a Tennessee commitment and Walker already has offers from Central Florida and Louisville.
Blakely is expected to play in the middle with Walker able to roam along the outside where he had seven sacks as a junior. Akivie Bailey is expected to earn the other starting spot in the linebacker corps.
The secondary is also stout with safety Landon Scott, 94 tackles and four pass breakups, and Rakeem Hightower. Hightower had 56 stops and four passes defended as a safety a year ago but is expected to slide over to corner this season. Quan Singletary and Kiontae Green are poised for breakout senior seasons. Class of 2017 players to watch for are Quan Walker and Aikaari Ryce.
Much like the offensive line, the Packers’ defensive line is a mystery at this point. Expect Coach Propst to mix and match some of his big men along the offensive line and defensive line to get the right players in the right spot for another successful run into the playoffs this season. Some of the key contributors in the middle could be junior Donald Key (5’10”, 300) and seniors Ty’Kevious Phillips (6’3”, 220) along with Marion Bentley (6’1”, 230).
Schedule
The 2015 season starts on Saturday for the Packers lining up against North Gwinnet in the Corky Kell Classic held in the Georgia Dome. If a national championship is in the plans playing teams from other states grabs national voters attention. Game 2 on Aug. 28 for Colquitt is a big challenge hosting Plant High School (Tampa), winners of four Florida state titles since 2006.
On paper, the toughest games for the Packers in-state include Lowndes and Lee County.
The one thing in favor of the Packers with the schedule is just three road games plus one neutral site game. The only bad part of the two road games, back-to-back with Lowndes and Lee County.
Colquitt 2015 Football Schedule
Aug. 22 North Gwinnett vs. Colquitt (Georgia Dome)
Aug. 28 Plant at Colquitt
Sept. 4 Crisp County (Cordele, GA) at Colquitt
Sept. 11 Enterprise (AL) at Colquitt
Sept. 18 Pelham at Colquitt
Sept. 25 Bye
Oct. 2 Colquitt at Lowndes
Oct. 9 Colquitt at Lee County
Oct. 16 Valdosta at Colquitt
Oct. 23 Bye
Oct. 30 Tift County at Colquitt
Nov. 6 Colquitt at Camden County
Photo credit: ajc.com; Chase Parrish hands off to Sihiem King (2014).