South Georgia Showdown: No. 3 Lee County to face No. 2 Colquitt County Friday night

MOULTRIE — South Georgia’s two largest, highest-ranked teams will go head-to-head Friday night at Colquitt County’s Mack Tharpe Stadium for bragging rights and the opportunity to just how good the two teams are before heading into region play.

“This is an exciting game,” said Lee County head coach Dean Fabrizio. “Our kids are excited, our community is excited. We’re going to face the No.2 team in the state and a team ranked in the top 20 in the country. We had a big game a couple of weeks ago that we won against Warner Robins but this one is probably even bigger,” the coach added.

The No. 2-ranked Colquitt County Packers (3-0) boast two five-star athletes in wide receiver Ny Carr (committed to Georgia) and Landen Thomas (committed to Florida State) as well as a host of other top-tier athletes including senior quarterback Neko Fann.

The No. 3-ranked Lee County Trojans (3-0) are equally impressive. Led by junior running back Ousmane Kromah, senior Devin Collier (committed to Georgia Southern), and an experienced lineup on both offense and defense who will also have the opportunity to play college football.

The two teams met in Leesburg last season with Colquitt County winning 48-27.

“I don’t see that score as us winning big,” said Colquitt County head coach Sean Calhoun.”I think we scored two late touchdowns if I remember correctly. I look at that game as though it was a one-touchdown difference.”

The Colquitt County coach is looking for a tough battle for his team Friday night.

“Lee County has an excellent football team,” Calhoun said. “They have so many weapons on both offense and defense. That running back (Ousmane Kromah) they have is so quick. He is probably the best running back in the state right now, maybe even the country. He can just pop out and be gone so quickly. They have a strong offensive line and good skill players,” the coach continued. “Their defense is really strong as well.”

Lee County head coach Dean Fabrizio has huge respect for the Colquitt County team.

“Colquitt County has an excellent team and is so well coached. They are just so good in all three phases of the game,” said Fabrizio. “We have our work cut out for us. It is not only Ny Carr or Landen Thomas, they have so many ways they can hurt us. Their quarterback (Neko Fann) is very effective and runs things very well.”

Colquitt County has won all three games this season by at least 20 points. Their closest game was a 47-27 over a Stockbridge team that whipped Dougherty 54-0 Friday night at Hugh Mills Stadium.

However, neither coach feels comfortable heading into the game and is hoping for his team’s best.

“We have eight or nine first-year starters on defense,” said Calhoun. “With that, we’ve seen a lot of inconsistency. We need a really good week of practice to be prepared for this game. The good thing is we have a guard that is coming back from an injury and a safety that is returning for us.”

“I think this game will come down to a couple of plays, likely in the fourth quarter,” Calhoun said.

Fabrizio believes the Trojans will need a near-perfect performance to take a win in Moultrie.

“We need all 11 guys on the field to be on point for every play,” said Fabrizio. “Last year we lost it on special teams so hopefully that will be better this time. Our offense has to be able to move the ball and keep their offense off the field. With that, we’ve got to be able to spread the ball around to Devin Collier, Braxton Honer, and Bryan Weston, so that Colquitt can’t hone in on Ousmane,” the coach said. “The offensive line has been good so far and we are going to need them strong this week as well. On defense we have to be on point, they have so many weapons.”

The two coaches agree that it will be a battle that should leave fans entertained. The iconic Mack Tharpe Stadium in Moultrie is located at 1000 Stadium Dr., SW, Moultrie, GA 31768. General admission tickers are $12 and are available online at GoFan.com.

Joe WhitfieldJoeWhitfield[email protected]