Packers fall in semifinals to Carrollton 35-27
Dec. 3—MOULTRIE — Carrollton played near-flawless football and Colquitt County was unable to overcome several key miscues leading the Trojans to a 35-27 victory over the Packers in a Class 7A semifinal played on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium on Friday.
The Trojans, now 14-0 in their first season in Class 7A, advance to meet Mill Creek in the state championship game, scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 20, at Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta.
The Packers finish 13-1 after dropping a home playoff game for just the third time since 2010.
The semifinal game was the 14th for Colquitt County since 1991.
The Packers appeared to have had some momentum when senior Jack Luttrell returned a punt 51 yards for a touchdown and Brett Fitzgerald converted for a 17-14 lead with 29 seconds left in the first half.
But with 11 seconds left, Carrollton freshman quarterback Julian Lewis competed a pass to Caleb Odom who dove for the end zone on the sideline on what appeared to be the final play of the half.
A Colquitt player knocked the ball out of Odom's hands as he crossed the goal line.
After a long deliberation, the officials ruled that Odom had stepped out of bounds at the 2-yard line.
The officials also put two seconds on the clock and Bryce Hicks scored for the Trojans on the next play.
Instead of leading by three at the half, the Packers were down 21-17 and never recovered, scoring just one touchdown and adding a second Brett Fitzgerald in the second half.
The Packers never were able to hem up Hicks, who rushed for 205 yards on 37 carries. He also threw a 9-yard jump pass to tight end Jordan White for another touchdown early in the third quarter.
And Lewis completed 17-of-26 passes for 248 yards and two touchdowns.
He now has thrown 43 touchdown passes this season.
Carrollton rolled up 481 yards of offense, rushing the football 42 times and throwing it 27 times.
The Trojans had 23 first downs.
The Packers could not come up with crucial stops on defense, allowing the Trojans to convert six times on fourth down.
Two of those conversions resulted in touchdowns: the third-quarter pass from Hicks to White and a 32-yarder from Lewis to Odom with 6:03 left in the game that put the Trojans up 35-20.
Colquitt answered on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Neko Fann to Ny Carr with 3:34 left in the game.
But the Packers never got the ball back.
The Packers also were unable to score touchdowns on twice when they had the ball inside the Carrollton 5-yard line.
A 62-yard Neko Fann run gave the Packers a first-down on Trojans 5 with 4:37 left in the first quarter, but Charlie Pace was stopped at the 1 on third down and Day'Shawn Brown was thrown for a yard loss on fourth down.
Carrollton then embarked on a 99-yard drive that culminated on a Jamun Evan 4-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 lead with a minute gone in the second quarter.
Colquitt also had to settle for a Fitzgerald field goal after reaching a first-and-goal at the Trojans 9 late in the third quarter.
And two 15-yard penalties against the Packers defense on one play late in the first quarter helped Carrollton drive to its first touchdown.
Fann completed 13-of-23 passes for 174 yards and a touchdowns.
Carr caught 11 passes for 159 yards.
"This was a game between two evenly matched football teams," Packers coach Sean Calhoun. "We just made too many mistakes. We just can't shoot ourselves in the foot like that.
"We fought until the very end. But we need to do a better job of getting our team prepared."
While Calhoun was not pleased with the way the first half ended, "By the time we came out (for the second half), we were OK. And there were other plays we didn't make."
Calhoun also said that in his first season back in Moultrie, the Packers seniors "laid a good foundation here. They did a fantastic job."
Among those seniors is Pace, who rushed for an unofficial 120 yards, giving more than 3,000 yards in his outstanding career.
His first-quarter 6-yard touchdown gave up 43 career scores.
