Packers pound North Gwinnett 52-17, will face Carrollton in semifinals

Nov. 26—MOULTRIE — Colquitt County scored touchdowns on its first five possessions and rolled to a 52-17 victory over North Gwinnett in a Class 7A state quarterfinal game on Friday on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium.

The Packers rolled up 566 yards of offense and held the Region 7 champion Bulldogs scoreless in the second half.

The 13-0 Packers will be at home for a fourth-straight week when they play host to Carrollton in one semifinal next Friday.

Mill Creek will travel to Milton in the other semifinal.

The Class 7A state championship game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, at Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta.

Carrollton, the Region 2 champion, eliminated Walton 52-27, in another quarterfinal on Friday.

Packers head coach Sean Calhoun was the head coach at Carrollton from 2016-2020 and obviously is looking forward to meeting the Trojans.

"We are moving on to the semifinals and they have to got to travel here," he said of the opportunity to play against the team he coached for five years.

Calhoun led Carrollton to the quarterfinals each year, "but this is the first time as a head coach that I've been here."

Asked if he envisioned running up 52 points against North Gwinnett, he said, "The way they play defense, they play so much man, we knew we could score. We just didn't know how much."

North Gwinnett had defeated Dacula 37-7 and Lambert 38-35 to reach the quarterfinals.

But after 300-pound Kayden McDonald scored on a 5-yard run and Constantine Dallis converted with 5:32 left in the first half to pull the Bulldogs to within 11 at 28-17, North Gwinnett never scored again.

Colquitt added another touchdown late in the second quarter and added two more touchdown passes by Neko Fann and a 22-yard Brett Fitzgerald field goal in the second half.

Fann completed 15-of-20 passes for 352 yards and tied a school record with six touchdown passes.

Ny Carr had five pass receptions for 182 yards and two touchdowns, the last one a 77-yarder with 11:15 left in the game.

Tight end Landen Thomas also had two touchdown receptions and Charlie Pace carried 14 times for 147 yards and a touchdown.

Julian Walters led the Bulldogs on the ground with eight carries for 55 yards.

North Gwinnett trailed 35-17 at the half and after receiving the kickoff drove from its 32 to a second-and-15 at the Colquitt 33 when a double pass went for an apparent touchdown.

But the Bulldogs were flagged for having an ineligible player downfield and the touchdown was nullified.

On the next play, Colquitt County linebacker Daveon Hunt sacked North Gwinnett quarterback Ryan Hall, who fumbled as he went down.

Hunt also recovered the fumble on the Bulldogs' 37 and four plays later, Fann threw his second touchdown pass to Thomas from 23 yards out and Packers led by 25 with 7:53 left in the third quarter.

"That turnover was huge," Calhoun said.

Hall threw for 150 yards, but only 78 in the second half.

North Gwinnett had just five first downs in the second half, one of which was on a Colquitt County penalty.

The Bulldogs had no first downs in the fourth quarter.

North Gwinnett, which finishes 10-3, had just 109 yards rushing and just 202 yards of offense.

The Packers took the opening kickoff and drove 63 yards in nine plays to score on a Fann-to-Carr touchdown pass of 14 yards.

After forcing a North Gwinnett punt, the Packers needed just two plays to cover 41 yards and scored on the first Fann-to-Thomas touchdown pass.

North Gwinnett's next drive stalled on the Packers 12 and the Bulldogs had to settle for a 29-yard Dallis field goal.

Pace scored on a 52-yard run by Charlie Pace three plays after the kickoff and Colquitt led 21-3 after the first quarter.

The Bulldogs pulled to within 11 when Walters capped an 80-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run.

But North Gwinnett never found a way to stop the Packers.

A 34-yard touchdown pass from Fann to Za'Mari Williams put the Packers up 28-10 with 7:55 left in the half.

A 75-yard kickoff return by Kenon Holmes set the Bulldogs up for the 5-yard McDonald touchdown, which proved to be North Gwinnett's last gasp.

Colquitt controlled the final 29 1/2 minutes to reach the semifinals for the first time since 2018.

Colquitt has now scored 157 points in three playoff games.

"That was just unbelievable," Calhoun said. "I couldn't be prouder of the kids and how hard they have worked."