There’s bad news for the other football teams in Class AAAAAA. Defending state champion Colquitt County returns with the same quick-paced high-scoring offense, plus the Packers appear to be even better on defense.
Coach Rush Propst’s No. 3 ranked Packers, with veteran quarterback Chase Parrish at the controls, chewed up No. 7 North Gwinnett 45-14 on Saturday at the Georgia Dome in the Corky Kell Kickoff Classic. Colquitt has won 16 straight games.
“I thought we played better,” Propst said. “We definitely did some good things.”
Colquitt County ran for 117 yards and threw for 224 yards. On defense Packers limited North Gwinnett to 70 yards rushing, forced two fumbles, intercepted a pass and recorded four sacks.
“The defense played OK,” Propst said. “We gave them that drive to start the third quarter, but overall I thought we played well.”
Parrish picked up where he left off last season when he threw for 2,835 yards. The senior completed 16 of 28 passes for 191 yards and one touchdown. He was intercepted once. Parrish also rushed for 33 yard and the team converted 6 of 14 third-down opportunities.
Kiel Pollard caught seven passes for 124 yards and one touchdown and rushed for two more scores. Nathan Powell rushed 17 times for 40 yards.
The Colquitt defense was led by Ja’Quain Blakeley, who had five tackles, 2.5 for loss, recovered a fumble and had 1.5 sacks.
It was the first lopsided game in the brief series between the two state powers. North Gwinnett won 16-14 in the 2012 Corky Kell and Colquitt County won 17-7 when the two met in the second round of the 2011 state playoffs.
“I felt like we could have put more points on the board,” Propst said. “But at the end of the day I’m happy with a win.”
North Gwinnett was led by Kameron Pickett, who rushed 14 times for 75 yards and one touchdown. Starting quarterback Zach Ward completed 10 of 17 for 96 yards, but was sacked four times. Trevor Deyton completed 3 of 5 with one interception for 67 yards and one touchdown.
Colquitt County scored quickly on its first possession. The Packers needed only five plays to go 57 yards, with Nathaniel Powell scoring on an 8-yard run off the left side with 10:41 gone.
Colquitt made it 14-0 with 3:50 left when Rafael Merritt took a handoff down the right side for a 17-yard touchdown.
The Packers went up 21-0 following a 13-play drive that concluded with Kiel Pollard’s 2-yard run with 2:48 left.
North Gwinnett scored for the first time with 1:23 left. Trevor Deyton, who relieved starter Zach Ward on that series, executed a play-action pass for a long touchdown. Deyton faked a handoff to Kameron Pickett and dumped the pass to Josh Imatorbhebhe for 49-yard score, which cut the lead to 21-7.
After forcing Colquitt to punt, the Bulldogs immediately gave it back when Deyton was intercepted by Quan Singletary. The turnover set up Lou Martinez for a 44-yard field goal at the horn that gave the Packers a 24-7 halftime advantage.
North Gwinnett opened the second half with a 71-yard touchdown drive, sparked by a 44-yard pass from Cade Fortin to Horace Buckley. That set up Pickett’s 1-yard touchdown that cut the lead to 24-14 with 10:35 left.
But Colquitt County immediately answered with a touchdown drive. The big play was a 35-yard flea flicker that wound up with Parrish firing a pass to Pollard. Five plays later Rafael Merritt scored on a 5-yard run.
The Packers essentially put the game away late in the third quarter. After forcing Colquitt to go three-and-out, North Gwinnett turned it over at the 7. The ball was snapped high over the head of North quarterback Fortin and recovered by Buckley. Three plays later Parrish threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Pollard to make it 38-14.
Pollard scored again with 1:10 left in the third quarter on a 1-yard run. The drive was set up when a North Gwinnett player inadvertently touched a punted ball, which Colquitt recovered at the 25. Pollard’s score made it 45-14 and ensured the fourth period would be played with a running clock because of the 30-plus point advantage.
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