Jamad Willis scored both by recovering a fumble and in the running game for Colquitt County 7th grade football in Wednesday’s home win vs. Lowndes.

MOULTRIE, Ga. – Tajh Sanders reversed his field, absorbed a hit and scored the game-winning touchdown Wednesday for Colquitt County’s 7th grade football Packers. It came with less than three minutes remaining in regulation and took away the only lead Lowndes had all day. Hayden Moore’s interception, after Lowndes converted a third down on its final possession, secured Colquitt’s 20-16 victory on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium.

It was at the beginning of the final quarter that Lowndes ran the trap play up to the Packer 17-yard-line for 1st-and-10. At least four Colquitt defenders had a shot to sack the Viking quarterback, the fourth being Ty’Li Lewis. He made the tackle on the quarterback near the line of scrimmage, but then Lowndes faked everybody by looking to the right. The toss sweep went left into open ground, including the end zone.

That tied the game 14-14 with 5:03 remaining. Lowndes scored the two-point conversion to lead for the first time 16-14.

The 7th graders fielded the kickoff on the Colquitt 31-yard-line. Quarterback Zane Touchton completed three passes, two on swings to running back Jamad Willis. Willis’ yards-after-catch effort moved the Packers inside the Viking 10. Andy Chapura and staff called for the power I formation, and Sanders got the football to battle over the goal line from six yards out.

Fans saw a much more wide open show of football in the second half than the first on another warm late afternoon. There was only one first-half touchdown, and that was on the first snap from scrimmage. Actually, it wasn’t much of a snap, for Lowndes had possession and fumbled the football away.

Willis picked the loose pigskin up and lumbered a short 13-yard distance to score. Touchton passed to Sanders for two points. The lead very early in the game, at the end of the first eight-minute quarter, and at halftime was 8-0 Colquitt County.

That was fortunate from Lowndes’ standpoint, for the Vikings also fumbled the handoff on its second lineup from scrimmage. Marcus Ponder recovered on the Lowndes 41-yard-line.

The visiting Vikings did not turn the football over again in the half, but Moore got into the backfield for two tackles in one drive. The Vikings had some success on the counter runs up to the Packer 20-yard-line, but also Moore and Ponder collapsed the pocket on the quarterback for a sack to get the football for the offense.

Touchton, facing a blitz, hit DiJmon Wheeler for first down to end the first period on their 45. Sanders ran 14 yards into Viking ground to start the second, and pass interference on fourth down spotted Colquitt on the 26. Lowndes was able to resist any further scoring despite Willis’ hard run, and with a new possession hit the counter run for 16 yards the other way.

Time was running out, however, and the Vikings went into the shotgun for the first time. Moore recorded another sack for this game taking the contest into intermission.

Resembling the type of offense Tucker High used successfully on the Packer varsity the previous weekend, Chapura’s team tried a little trap running to start the third quarter. The results were quite big, Willis’ 59-yard touchdown that gave the 7th graders a 14-0 lead.

Lowndes found good luck on Colquitt’s onside kickoff, falling on the loose football at its 40. Not two minutes had gone off the quarter clock when a second touchdown went on the boards, this next one on Lowndes’ 60-yard counter run. They added two points to pull within six at 14-8.

Sanders delivered two big special teams plays in the half, one by going 38 yards on the kickoff return. The ensuing drive, however, ended with Lowndes making a keen over-the-shoulder interception on its 17. They could not capitalize and punted away, Sanders taking this return 25 yards to the Lowndes 30.

Willie Almond caught consecutive passes of a similar route for 17 yards, but Colquitt lost a second drive throwing an interception on the 10. Lowndes moved up to the 50 when the third quarter ended, and from there took the short-lived lead.

 “We weren’t missing by much in the first half,” Chapura said. “We were off on little things, and weren’t able to put up any points. Our defense staked us an early lead, and our offense got going a little bit in the second half.

“It was a good team win. We didn’t have our best game on either side of the ball, but everybody contributed enough to earn the win. I couldn’t be happier for our kids. They dug down deep and earned a tough win.”