Boys soccer team hopes to keep momentum

MOULTRIE -- A week ago the Colquitt County soccer team was 5-4, was coming off a difficult 3-2 loss to Central Macon and facing back-to-back matches without four starters.

But the Packers defeated Tift County 2-1 last Friday on a goal by Austen DeMott with two minutes remaining for a key Region 1-AAAAA victory.

The next day, after traveling to Jesup, the Packers got a goal of Justin Harrison with a minute remaining to send the game into overtime, then beat Wayne County 3-2 on penalty kicks.

"It was pretty big," Packers coach Jeff Morris said of the victory over the Yellow Jackets. "We just broke things down and decided there was no reason we can't finish strong and go 9-0.

"We seemed to take that to heart."

The Packers, now 7-4 overall and 4-1 in Region 1-AAAAA, will have most of their players back in uniform for a meeting with Lee County at Mack Tharpe Stadium expected to start around 7:45 p.m.

Starting defender Jim Faircloth still has a tender ankle and likely will be held out of tonight's game.

Colquitt will not play Friday and will be off until Saturday, April 5, when the Packers and Lady Packers travel to Columbus to meet Pacelli.

Morris said he hopes to have Faircloth back in uniform by then.

While the victory over Wayne County was a morale-builder, the win over Tift County was more important, keeping the Packers just 1 1/2 games behind region-leading Lowndes.

The Packers hope to keep rolling against Lee County, which is just 1-4 in the region. Colquitt beat the Trojans 7-1 on Feb. 21 in Leesburg.

While Colquitt's boys were able to overcome the loss of two starters to injuries and two others to red cards, Colquitt's girls dropped two close matches last week.

On Friday, the Lady Packers lost to Tift County 2-1 in overtime and on Saturday could not manage a goal in a 1-0 loss to Wayne County.

The Lady Packers, 7-4 overall and 3-2 in the region, beat Lee County 2-1 last month.