Pack to face Pebblebrook in the first round

Nov. 8—MOULTRIE — Sean Calhoun took five teams to the playoffs when he was the head coach at Carrollton and he has this to say about Pebblebrook, the team Colquitt County will face it its postseason-opener on Saturday:

"They are the most athletic team I've faced in the first round," the Packers head coach said this week. "And they are the fastest we've been up against."

The Falcons, the No. 4 team from Region 2-7A, will bring a 4-6 record to The Hawg Pen for the 6 p.m. Saturday Class 7A first-round game.

But Calhoun cautions Packer fans, and the Packers themselves, to not put too much stock into that record.

Of the Falcons six losses, three have come by three points or fewer and another was by eight points.

"They are a lot better than that record would indicate," Calhoun said.

In fact, the Falcons had East Coweta on the ropes in the fourth quarter last Friday with the game tied at 14-14.

After Pebblebrook made a third-down stop near midfield, East Coweta ran a fake punt, made the first down and drove down to kick a 30-yard game-winning field goal with 13 seconds remaining.

The Pebblebrook defense sports a solid defensive line and linebacking crew and its secondary is led by 6-foot-2, 185-pound senior cornerback Tyler Scott, who has committed to Alabama.

Offensively, the Falcons relay on No. 9, junior Dwight Phillips Jr., who is the defending Class 7A 100-meters champion.

He ran a 10.43 100-meters last year and has more than 30 college football offers.

Phillips is the son of Dwight Phillips who won a gold medal in the long jump at the 2004 Olympics and is a four-time World Championships gold medalist.

The younger Phillips scored both Pebblebrook touchdowns in the loss at East Coweta, including one on a 79-yard run.

His second capped an eight-minute, 90-yard drive.

"We have got to find a way to contain their speed," Calhoun said. "We can't give up the big plays. We've got to make them drive it.

"This is going to be a good test for us in the first round."

The only other time Colquitt County and Pebblebrook met was in the first round of the 2017 playoffs.

In Mableton, Packers quarterback Steven Krajewski completed 20-of-30 passes for 325 yards and five touchdowns in a 49-7 win.

This marks the fourth year that the Falcons have been under the direction of head coach Leroy Hood.

After going 3-7 in 2019 and 6-5 in 2020, the Falcons posted a 9-2-1 record last year, beating Parkview 44-42 in the first round of the playoffs before falling 48-6 to Collins Hill in the second round.

Pebblebrook, which is located in Cobb County, has been playing football since 1965.

The Falcons' best seasons were in 1998, when they went 10-2, and 2000, when they posted a 10-1 record.

If they are going to advance to the second round for the first time since 2006, they will have to find a way to shut down a 10-0, Region 1-7A champion Packers team that is averaging 38 points a game while allowing just 119 points all season.

Colquitt clinched the Region 1-7A championship two weeks ago with a 24-6 win at Valdosta and then set the perfect regular-season record in stone with a 41-14 win at Richmond Hill last Friday.

Despite playing without injured Charlie Pace, the region's leading rusher, the Packers ran up 201 yards on the ground against Richmond Hill.

It is unclear whether Pace will play against Pebblebrook.

Quarterback Neko Fann completed 15-of-26 passes for 180 yards and his 18th and 19th touchdown passes of the season.

Ten of those completions and both of the scoring tosses went to Ny Carr, who now has 43 pass receptions for 637 yards and six touchdowns.

Fann also has accomplished receivers in tight end Landen Thomas, who has 31 catches, including five for scores; and Za'Mari Williams, who has 26 catches.

Even if Pace does play, Calhoun won't hesitate to use Day'Shawn Brown, who had 83 yards against Richmond Hill; Ramsey Dennis, who had 65; and Chad White, who had 33.

Each scored a touchdown against the Wildcats.

The offense starts with a line that earned the Packers' Offensive Player of the Week Award for its performance against Richmond Hill.

Coach Bryce Giddens's group includes center Jay'Den Williams, guards Cole Holmes and Ja'Nas Daniels and tackles Keshaun Palmore and Turk Daniels.

Super-sub Khalil Collins, a sophomore, also was among those honored.

The defensive front includes ends Tyshon Reed Jr. and Amari Wilson and nose guard Julian Harper.

The outside linebackers are Daveon Hunt and Qway McCoy, who was the leading tackler against Richmond Hill with 11 stops.

Kamal Bonner and Nick Pace, who leads the team with 110 total tackles this season, are the inside linebackers. Carlos Moore and Raheim McBride are the corners and Lyric Thomas, who leads the team with five interceptions, and Jack Luttrell are the safeties.

Luttrell had a big game returning punts against Richmond Hill taking four of them 57 yards.

Brett Fitzgerald kicked his ninth and 10th field goals of the season against the Wildcats.

Will Tapscott will do the snapping; Eli Meads, the holding; Luttrell, the punting; and Ethan Ramirez, the kicking off.

The Pebblebrook-Colquitt County winner will play the survivor of the Harrison-Brookwood game in the second round.

Also on Saturday, Region 1-7A's No. 2 team Camden County will play host to East Coweta; No. 3 Valdosta will travel to Westlake; and Lowndes will bus to play 10-0 and Region 2-7A Carrollton.