Devils, Packers similar squads

TIFTON — There is a football team in Region 1-AAAAA this season that has been ranked No. 1 in the state, barely lost to the Coffee High Trojans which knocked them out of that top spot and has a player that has verbally committed to the University of Georgia.

While the above paragraph describes the Tift County Blue Devils, it also describes the Colquitt County Packers.

Tift and Colquitt both spent a week tied for the top spot in the Associated Press Class AAAAA state football poll. The Packers fell 39-37 to Coffee in triple overtime at home, while the Devils were defeated by the Trojans 23-20 in Douglas the following week. Finally, Tift County’s Israel Troupe and Colquitt County’s Vance Cuff have both verbally committed to play football at the University of Georgia.

The old rivals will play Friday night at Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium in Moultrie. The 7:30 p.m. game will close out the regular season for both teams, however Tift will be in the state playoffs out of 1-AAAAA, while Colquitt has been eliminated from postseason contention.

That is the main difference in the two squads as Tift’s only loss this season was the Coffee defeat, while Colquitt has also been beaten by Lowndes and Houston County.

Even though Colquitt will miss the playoffs, the Packers are loaded with talent and will be an extremely tough test for a Tift team that has not defeated the Packers in Moultrie since 1990.

Cuff has been a senior standout for the Packers on both sides of the ball.

The Georgia commitment has two interceptions on defense and has caught 28 passes for 382 yards on offense.

Led by quarterback Channing Hudson, the Packers lead the league in passing offense.

Hudson has completed 134-of-225 passes for 1,632 yards. He has thrown 16 touchdown passes and has been picked off seven times.

Counting Cuff, the Packers have four of the top 11 receivers in the region, yardage wise.

Orion Ponder leads the league with 44 catches for 443 yards and six touchdowns. Cuff is second in the region and B.J. Howard is fourth. Howard has 24 catches for 317 yards and three scores. Dontrell Johnson is 11th with six catches for 188 yards and two touchdowns.

Other top receivers for Colquitt are Jarvis Lambright with 15 catches for 140 yards and Tyler Mobley with seven catches for 87 yards.

Like Cuff, Ponder and Johnson also play in the defensive backfield. Ponder has three interceptions this season, while Johnson has two.

Besides his receiving and interceptions, Ponder also is the leading rusher for the Packers with 444 yards on 88 carries. Howard is second with 360 yards on 72 carries.

Matt DeMott is the Colquitt kicker. He averages 33.1 yards per punt, but has only punted 21 times this year, the least in the region. As a place-kicker, DeMott has made seven field goals in 10 attempts and has converted 30 of his 31 point after attempts.

The Packers are averaging 285.3 yards per game in total offense.

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