Packers will face a challenge when Lee County visits for scrimmage

Aug. 4—MOULTRIE — Kiel Pollard surely remembers the last time the Lee County football team traveled to Moultrie.

Lee County has probably tried to forget it.

It was October 10, 2014, and the Packers and Trojans were both members of Region 1-AAAAAA. Both were undefeated.

And the game was close.

For about 10 minutes.

After the Trojans scored to tie the game 7-7 with 4:27 left in the first quarter, the Packers scored six straight touchdowns and went on to win 58-14.

Pollard, who later played at South Carolina and is now an assistant coach on the Colquitt County ninth-grade staff, scored four touchdowns, all in the second quarter.

There was an 18-yard scoring pass from Chase Parrish followed by a 35-yard punt return for a score. Pollard's other two scores also came on passes from Parrish, from 32 and 19 yards out.

The Packers went on to finish 15-0 and win the first of their back-to-back state championships.

The Trojans ended the season with an 8-3 record and played host to the Packers in Leesburg the next season. The result was similar, with the Packers winning 54-17.

But the Trojans, under head coach Dean Fabrizio, have since established themselves as one of the top programs in the state.

Lee has gone on to win region championships in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 and state championships in 2017 and 2018.

The Trojans played for the Class 6A state championship last December and fell to Buford 34-31 on an overtime field goal.

The stakes will not be nearly as high for the two teams when they face off at 7:30 p.m. Friday on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium.

It will be the annual scrimmage for two of the state's top-echelon programs.

By all accounts, Lee County, which finished 12-2 (its other loss was at Lowndes) last year, is loaded and is expected to contend for another state title.

In fact, according to the Georgia High School Football Daily, Lee County has five players listed on 247Sports composite top 100 senior prospects in the state.

Only Buford, with eight, has more.

(Also with five is Cedar Grove, which will come to Moultrie to meet the Packers on September 3.)

Fabrizio has a career record of 104-40 since he left an assistant's post at Peach County to take over the Lee County program in 2009 after the Trojans had gone 0-10 the previous season.

The Trojans are 52-6 over the last four years.

Colquitt County head coach Justin Rogers knows what his largely green team is getting itself into on Friday.

He has said his Packers might play a team as strong as Lee County in 2021, but not one better.

The scrimmage against the Packers will help to prepare the Trojans for their August 21 season-opener against Carver of Columbus at Albany State University.

Colquitt County, after losing 14 players from the 2020 team who will be playing collegiately on scholarship this fall, will be trying to establish a new identity on Friday.

Like the Trojans, the Packers will be playing their scrimmage after only four days of full-pads preparation.

Rogers said neither he nor any of the other coaches on the staff have ever played a scrimmage football game after only four days of practice.

"We are trying to balance a first week in pads and a game week at the same time," Rogers said on Monday. "We are going to put on pads today and play a meaningful game on Friday."

Colquitt will use the week after the scrimmage with Lee County as its "camp" week and the week after that, the Packers will concentrate on preparing for the August 20 season-opener at Marietta.

But on this Friday, Colquitt County will have large number of sophomores and other inexperienced players seeking to impress their coaches and expectant fans.

One of those sophomores will be 5-foot-10, 155-pound quarterback Neko Fann.

The coaching staff has been pleased with Fann's progress, but Rogers cautions that the younger brother of starting linebacker Pershaun Fann is, after all, just a 10th-grader.

A source of confidence for Fann should be the return of running back Charlie Pace, who could be one of the state's best this season.

Pace's two backups are sophomores: Chad White and Jeremy Murray.

Replacing the departed receivers Lemeke Brockington and Orion Bonner will be no easy task.

But the immensely talented Baby D Wheeler is back. Ny Carr, another sophomore, was good enough as a freshman last year to warrant some Friday night experience at wide out.

Sophomore Landon Thomas, who committed to Florida State after his freshman season, could blossom this season.

Ontavious Carolina is a big, veteran target, but he is likely to see most of his time on the defensive line.

A number of other young pass-catchers will be trying to make good impressions.

Only two starting offensive linemen return and one, senior Cam Strange, has moved from guard to center.

Turk Daniels, who started all 10 games last season as a freshman, is back at right tackle.

But there are a number of promising linemen battling for playing time and Rogers said he thinks the group could mature into one of the team's strengths.

K'Shaun Palmore, Isaiah Palmore, Jon Vaughn, Cole Holmes, Xavier Nickerson and others are likely to get snaps in the trenches on Friday.

Carolina, returning starter Marcus Ponder and a third senior, Ronald Durham, will see plenty of time on the defensive front. Julian Harper, Milton Barfield and Quan Gammage will provide depth.

After a fine junior season, Pershaun Fann will be back at one outside linebacker slot. Alexander Florence and Kamal Bonner also will play on the perimeter.

Rickie Yates, Hayden Moore and Daveon Hunt also will play linebacker.

With the entire starting secondary gone from 2020, Bonner, Hunter Strickland, Ni Edwards, Tylan Brice, Qway McCoy, Justin Sinclair, Carlos Moore, Dextra Polite Jr. and Cam Walker are being given the opportunity to get plenty of playing time.

Freshman Brett Fitzgerald, brother of former Packer and current Florida State Seminole Ryan Fitzgerald, is expected to do the place-kicking and handle kickoff duties.

Will Tapscott is stepping into the deep snapping role handled the last several years by the unheralded but outstanding Max Parker.

Pershaun Fann is expected to do the punting.

The scrimmage will feature three quarters of varsity play and quarterbacks will not be subject to contact. Special teams will be "live," however.

Reserved tickets for the scrimmage against Lee County are on sale for $10 at the high school athletic office until noon on Friday. Reserved seat tickets not purchased by noon on Friday will go on sale to the general public at the gate for $12.

General admission tickets purchased at the athletic office by noon on Friday will be $8.

General admission tickets purchased at the gate will be $10.

Also, there will be no Booster Club parking for the scrimmage.

Booster Club parking will begin when the Packers play their home opener against Westlake on Friday, August 27.