Colquitt County coach Rush Propst said his team is a work in progress. That may not be comforting to the other teams in the state, who watched the No. 2-ranked Packers hand No. 7 McEachern its worst loss in 11 years.
Colquitt overpowered McEachern 41-7 on Saturday at the Corky Kell Classic at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It was the first time the Packers have been on the field since losing the Class AAAAAAA on the last play of the game and they made sure it was memorable to McEachern, which lost by 34 points for the first time since Nov. 2, 2007 to rival Harrison.
“We’ve got the best kicker in the state, bar none, and maybe the best running back in the state, but that don’t make you a team,” Propst said. “We’re still a work in progress. We’ve got seven games before we start region play.
“It was a good statement to start here and if we’re lucky, we’ll come back here in December (for the state championship game).”
» Photos: 2018 Corky Kell Classic
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Ryan Fitzgerald, the Colquitt County kicker, made two field goals from 53 and 51 yards, seem effortless. Daijun Edwards, the junior running back, carried 25 times for 162 yards and one touchdown. One of Edwards’ runs went for 56 yards. Ty Leggett, the team’s other spotlight runner, suffered a bruised sternum and carried eight times for 9 yards.
Colquitt rushed 46 times for 211 yards, a 4.6-yard average, and only attempted 11 passes, completing seven for 99 yards.
“When you rush for 200 yards you’ve got a chance to win,” Propst said. “I felt like coming in here we’d only throw 10-12 times.”
Colquitt had a 24-7 lead at halftime. They likeloy put it away with a play-action pass from Marvion McDonald to Traveoun Tuff that went for a 31-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter and squelched any hopes of a McEachern comeback.
The Colquitt defense limited McEachern to 28 yards rushing and 164 yards passing. Paris Brown was the top runner with 40 yards and Jordan Simmons scored a running touchdown. Quarterback Carlos Delrio-Wilson completed 14 of 28 passes, but was intercepted twice and sacked three times.
“We played better football, but we should. We’re experienced,” Propst said. “We’ve got everybody back from last year. The key to us is we’ve got strength in numbers. We don’t have a lot of five-star guys, although Edwards is probably that. A lot of our guys are underrated because we’re not in Atlanta. Our kids use that at times. We sometimes don’t get the recognition from a recruiting standpoint.”
The win gives Colquitt County a 4-1 series lead over McEachern. Propst has not lost to the Indians since he arrived at the Moultrie school.
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