MOULTRIE – Paths cross often in the high school coaching profession, whether you own more than 100 wins or are just over halfway there.

Justin Rogers and Bob Sphire are no strangers; Friday night in Kingsland will not be their first time shaking hands.

“(We) go back years and years,” said Rogers, Colquitt County High’s first-year head coach, while preparing to face Sphire and the undefeated Camden County High Wildcats in the first Region 1-7A game for both squads. “Good buddies for a long time. I knew him when he was at North Gwinnett. We both kind of run similar systems, go up to the big Tony Franklin spread system conference every year up in Nashville. In fact, he brought the Camden County staff to Jones County, and we did an offensive clinic together.

“Great guy. Class act. You always know (his team) is going to be well coached.”

Camden County was once the feared powerhouse Colquitt County has become, going one 13-year span with 10 wins or more and three state championships. But the Wildcats hit hard times on the field, winning two games in 2016 and making a change to Sphire. He won 110 games in 11 years at North Gwinnett coupled with 146 wins in his home state of Kentucky when his career began in 1989. Camden County – dealing with two years of Atlantic hurricanes that forced mandatory evacuations – won three games in Sphire’s first year but then flipped things around to 7-4 in 2018.

Now, the Wildcats are back in the 7A top 10 averaging 45 points a game in live action (one win was by forfeit).

“You knew he would get them back,” said Rogers. “He’s won everywhere he’s been. And that program has the tradition, the support. It wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ but a matter of ‘when.’”

Next you look at the ‘how.’ Sphire has a senior quarterback in his second full season as the starter, which is much like what Rogers has at Colquitt County with senior Jaycee Harden. Logan Watson of Camden and Harden are battling for the lead in passing yards in Region 1-7A, and for Watson’s part he has a 315-yard game with five touchdowns through the air vs. Glynn Academy (51-17 win) and 261 yards with four touchdowns vs. Wren, S.C. (at Mercer, a 52-44 win).

“The offensive coordinator, Shawn Jackson, does a great job,” said Rogers. “He’s a good quarterback guy. He was at North Gwinnett with Bob and he was at Glynn with Rocky Hidalgo when they had a run. They are always going to be in good positions and do things right. And Logan is a good trigger man.”

Camden also features the up-and-coming star running back of the region, sophomore Jamie Felix, who had 87 carries, eight touchdowns and more than 600 yards on the ground in the first five games. Rogers said it is a good balance of run and pass, and just like the Packers the plan is to take what the defense will give on any given occasion.

“They will make us defend the whole 53 1/3 and all the way deep,” said Rogers.

“Defensively, they are going to blitz getting off the bus. They are going to be an odd front bringing pressure from all over the place. They will be multiple in their fronts, odd and even. They will try to create confusion.”

In a way, Rogers doesn’t see anyone dominating any phase of the game Friday. He said that while you might see the Wildcats get in the backfield for lost-yards plays on Colquitt, he believes the Packers will turn the tables and hit some big offensive gains.

“It will be a back and forth game,” he said.

If Camden does have a big night offensively, it will be only the second time that’s happened to the Packer defensive unit. The blemish on the 6-1 record is the Sept. 13 loss at Valdosta 50-49, and that had supporters chanting how you can’t give up 50 points.

Well, since then, in four games, opponents have a combined 27 points on Colquitt. About half of that is what you could call first-string points, the first-string offense vs. the Packer first-string defense. Otherwise, Warner Robins blocked a punt and scored, and Trinity Christian Academy last weekend scored late in the four quarter against third-stringers.

“They are doing a great job of improving every week,” said Rogers about a defense that held Grayson, 7A’s No. 1 at the time, to seven points. “Taking the coaching and applying it. The big thing is we have players back (from injury). We were down five starters by the end of the Valdosta game. We lost two for the year, but because of all the injuries we created depth. They kept their poise. Continued to work and quashed the noise from outside … did not blame or complain or defend their actions. They simply got better, and you see (the proof).”

Colquitt County also did not give up an offensive touchdown to Camden County in last year’s 38-9 win on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium. The last time Colquitt went to Chris Gilman Stadium in Kingsland, Ty Leggett ran for 251 yards and Ryan Fitzgerald nailed a 52-yard field goal. It was actually a scoreless first half, but the Packers prevailed 27-6.

In addition to the Valdosta game, Colquitt’s only other game decided at the end was 17-6 in the opener in Atlanta vs. North Gwinnett. Grayson didn’t score on Colquitt until it was 24-0 late in the third period. Warner Robins was within a touchdown late in the first half, but the Packers stretched that to 21-7 at the break.

The Wildcats, this year, have one close finish, 24-20 to beat Richmond Hill. Here are some of Camden’s halftime scores: 41-0, 37-7, 35-7, 31-10 and 35-6.

Both of these teams seem to be able to relax a bit in the fourth quarter, if not the third quarter as well.

“This is going to be a good football game,” said Rogers. “Two quality staffs. It will be a fourth-quarter game. There will be six or seven plays that define this game. You don’t know when those plays are going to happen. You have to make sure you are ready on every one. It will be the small thing that makes the huge difference.”