Making sure the football breaks the plane of the goal line is Colquitt County quarterback Jay Saunders, who had two touchdowns and 98 rushing yards in Friday’s first half.

MOULTRIE, Ga. – If Ty Leggett showed maturity going from a fumble to a touchdown run at Tift County, then what he did Friday on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium must have made a full man out of him.

If Nelson Louis didn’t get enough publicity for intercepting a pass as a 270-pound defensive end also in Tifton one week ago, he repeated the performance on a television stage at home for everyone to see.

Leggett’s 55-yard touchdown run with 5:25 remaining in regulation broke a 35-35 tie with the No. 6 Lowndes High Vikings and gave No. 7 Colquitt County High its third straight region championship (the newly minted 1-7A league with just four teams) 42-35. This game that could only be described as epic ended Lowndes’ eight-game winning streak and extended the Packers to a string of six wins in a row after the gloom and doom feelings of a four-game skid for the two-time defending state championship program of head coach Rush Propst.

Louis recorded his second intercepted pass in as many games late in the first quarter against Lowndes’ stout junior quarterback Michael Barrett. The pick (which actually ended as a fumble for Louis but recovered by Packer teammate Javarious Thomas on the Colquitt 33-yard-line) led to one of the five touchdowns scored by the home team during a dominant-looking first half. Colquitt’s defense in fact intercepted Barrett twice in the half, the other from senior cornerback Shawn Shamburger. That too was cashed it in for seven points.

The Packers led Lowndes 35-14 at halftime, but the second half started with controversy and played out as a scratch-and-claw comeback by the Vikings all the way to a tying touchdown with 7:18 remaining in the final period. Controversy was traded in for cartoon comedy when Lowndes botched the potential tying PAT kick.

For Colquitt senior quarterback Jay Saunders, he had 98 rushing yards on four first-half totes to produce a better total than Barrett, who sometimes was the region’s leading rusher this season. Barrett had 87 yards on the ground in the first half, but did wind up as the top ground gainer for the game, 161 yards. But in the passing game, it was Saunders with the definitive edge at 217 yards on 16-of-22. Barrett completed six passes for 131 yards.

Leggett’s game-winning burst gave him 106 yards in all on 10 carries. Seven of Colquitt’s receivers made a catch, the most going to senior Tory Ponder (5 for 55 yards). Tight end John Samuel Shenker caught three passes for 49 yards and Sheronsky Sloan grabbed a huge post pattern catch prior to Leggett’s touchdown. That was for 23 yards, giving him 41 total with one other reception.

Lowndes sophomore Travis Tisdale rushed for 155 yards and caught 66 yards worth of passes. Senior Tyson Harris made a mark in the game as well, be it with a 27-yard reception or a 43-yard pass completion. The Vikings, however, were without their leader in receptions, 6-5 senior Xavier Jenkins Jr., who was injured the week before vs. Camden County.

The capacity crowd, the Georgia Public Broadcasting television crew, the Senior Night recognitions, all got what they were there to see, and Lowndes made the immediate statement with the first possession and scoring drive of 80 yards. Harris’ catch and run down the home sideline of 27 yards converted 3rd-and-7 on the 50. Tisdale jetted to the left for 15 and jetted to the right with lots of room for 23 yards to the Packer 9.

The long arms of linebacker Willie DeBruce almost came up with an INT on first down, but going all the way to 4th-and-goal Barrett leapt over the line for a 1-yard touchdown.

This was the only time Lowndes had a lead, but 7-0 was 7-7 in as long as it took J.J. Peterson to slip past tacklers on kickoff coverage, get to his own sideline and go 98 yards to score. Ryan Fitzgerald tied the game on the PAT, something he would do successfully each chance presented.

Colquitt from there poured on play after play, even when Lowndes put up some large gains. Take the hole Barrett found on the draw in his next snap for 19 yards. But snap No. 2 of the drive saw him throw into Shamburger’s coverage for an interception return to the Viking 40.

With a chance to run some offense for the first time, Xavier Powell caught an out pattern for 19 yards and Leggett went off left tackle to the 4. On 2nd-and-goal from the 3, Saunders took the punishment to score on the ground at 5:47.

Down 14-7, Barrett and the Vikings made a move only to give up another turnover deep into Colquitt territory. Tisdale’s sweep gained 11 and Barrett found Tayvonn Kyle in the flat for a catch-and-run 26 yards long to the Packer 31.

In the Oct. 21 win over Tift, Louis caught Griffin Collier’s pass he tipped and returned 19 yards. Barrett tried a similar screen that was similarly tipped at the line of scrimmage. Nelson was there for his team’s second interception-ending to a drive in a row, and with Thomas’ help the home team had the ball on the 33.

Shenker took advantage of the room so many players with the football were finding, running a catch 25 yards to the Lowndes 42. On first down at the 28, another tight end, Josh Hadley went 1-on-1 down field and caught his first touchdown of the season at 1:54.

Colquitt’s defense next was able to prevent any first downs, DeBruce coming up with the stop setting up 3rd-and-7. Lowndes, only punting 20 times all season coming in, kicked the ball to the Packer 48.

As the first quarter turned into the second, Sloan caught a pass for 18 yards (half after the catch) and the Vikings pulled Leggett’s facemask for 1st-and-goal on the 10. On third down, Ponder’s mismatch against the Vikings secondary led to a 9-yard touchdown and 28-7 score 10:49 away from halftime.

Though down three scores, Lowndes stuck to a rushing attack with Tisdale crossing midfield on the CC 45. But he ran into Louis for 3rd-and-8, and his team punted to the Packer 13.

Seeing no secondary at all, Saunders raced to his longest rush of the season, 52 yards. This time, however, the Vikings saw a fumbled football recovered by Elgin Griffin on the LHS 40.

Barrett, struggling with the pass, used his legs for two 3rd-and-2 conversions advancing the ball to the Packer 37. On second down from the 17, Barrett ran the draw up the middle, cut left on the 10 and scored at 4:49. That pulled the visitors back within two TDs at 28-14.

One trait of the Packers during the previous five straight wins was touchdown drives well beyond 80 yards. Good kick coverage by Lowndes made the Packers begin on their 12, and they really had to go 90 from losing yards on the first play. But on 3rd-and-10 Ponder caught a modest 11-yard route. Saunders read a big hole, got a block upfield from Shenker, and turned it into 40 yards.

Shenker was rewarded with a chance to catch for 17 yards at the Viking 20, Daijun Edwards plowed the football inside the 5, and Saunders did the option keeper to score for the second time with 48 seconds on the clock.

So it was 35-14 at halftime, and Lowndes coach Randy McPherson had to make a decision. Colquitt was to receive the second half kickoff, but the Vikings tried an onside kick. The football was taken by a Lowndes player, and officials ruled possession in their favor at the 50, where this player’s feet hit the ground. Propst’s claim was illegal touching before the required 10 yards and even burned a timeout to state his case.

But nothing changed on the ruling, and as play resumed things turned in Colquitt’s favor with Tirise Barge and Dy’Narian Wyche sacking Barrett. The QB came back with a screen throw Tisdale turned into a first down on the CC 35. The Packers were also hit with a pair of personal fouls, and Barrett scored his third touchdown – 10 yards – 10:51.

No more onside kickoffs even with the score 35-21, though, but Lowndes didn’t need one. That’s because, on second down of the ensuing series, Fred Stewart intercepted Saunders and returned the football almost 50 yards to the Packer 24.

Linebackers Allen Key and Peterson made the Vikings crawl just to get one first down on the 12, and Nelson and Dante Moore made yards harder to get. For most teams, it would be field goal time, but the Vikings had just two attempts all season, and they had to be looking to get the most out of this major opportunity. But in what could go down as the true difference in No. 1 and No. 2 in this region, Lowndes lost the football on downs at the 8.

With 3:34 left in the third quarter, Lowndes made Colquitt punt for the first time. From their 38, Kyle took Harris’ halfback option from the Packer 43 to the 19. Harris even threw a block for Tisdale’s jet run to the 3. Harris got the honors to score a 1-yard touchdown, and the two-point conversion run pulled the Vikings within six, 35-29, still with two minutes before the final period.

And in those last two minutes, Lowndes covered the kickoff again on the Packer 12 and made the hosts start the last quarter punting.

From the LH 41, Tisdale carried three times but was hit for a big loss by Kaleb Dawson. On 2nd-and-20, Tisdale went open on the post route for 40 yards to the CC 16. Four plays later, it was four touchdowns on the night for Barrett, a 1-yard plunge that knotted things up. But on the PAT, the holder mishandled the ball, set it, picked it up and stayed on his knee for a hit. The kicker (not named Charlie Brown) was left with no chance but to kickoff and see what would happen in the final 7:18.

Set back to the 11 via penalty, Leggett still moved the chains, again modestly but enough on the 22. On first down, Sloan caught the post pattern play on the 45. Lowndes had an injured player, but the delay didn’t matter, for Tyler Howard – with a pancake block to his credit earlier – sprung Leggett free for the game-winning touchdown at 5:25. And there was no issue with Fitzgerald making the PAT for 42-35.

Barrett was not done, for he ran by blitzers for 39 yards to the Colquitt 41. He ran three more times inside the 30, but Key and Camari Louis put them in 3rd-and-10 passing situations. On fourth down, they tried the throw-back to Barrett, but the football arrived too low at 2:34.