Propst: Winning it all will come down to focus, self-discipline

It’s quite possible, with no offense intended, that when it comes to the Colquitt County High football team – in any given season lately – there are teams that could not win a game against this squad even on the Packers’ worst day.

Was last Friday, when Colquitt played Camden County on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium, the worst day for the No. 1 Packers? The final score was 38-9 in favor of the home team, with 14 of the points coming in the last two minutes of regulation and all the regulars still on the turf. Half of those points were gift-wrapped in the form of a quarterback fumble returned non-stop, full-speed-ahead to the opposite end zone.

The Packers had 60 first-half rushing yards and 172 for the whole game. There was the 40-yard touchdown run in those last two minutes. Names are being withheld intentionally to show that this is all about a team. College and pro stadiums feature scoreboards that can show any player’s point total, yardage or batting average; haven’t seen one in high school that does that, and the boards are getting more impressive over the years.

That game with Camden is over and done with, and tonight it’s on to Brodie Field in Tifton. It may be a wet, saturated surface as rain is forecasted for Thursday night to Friday morning. The 6-2 Blue Devils hover from No. 9 to No. 11 in Class 7A rankings, but the ranking that matters is one controlled by wins and losses.

It won’t be Colquitt County and Lowndes playing on GPB for sole possession of first place in Region 1-7A on Nov. 2 in Moultrie. Maybe that will be the night the Packers look to complete a 3-0 sweep in the league. But Tift County already busted the brackets by knocking off Lowndes last weekend in Valdosta, and so the Blue Devils also have a chance to take a 2-0 record into the final weekend.

The conclusion is that Tift County is, if anything, capable. Just as LSU was capable of defeating the No. 2 team of college football – those University of Georgia Bulldogs – Tift has the capability of holding serve in its home stadium, even against the consensus No. 1 of 7A. After all, in the same stadium over a month ago, they were a missed field goal short of going to overtime with Parkview, No. 2 in the rankings (unless you see a poll with Grayson right behind the Packers).

What could be the biggest difference in trying to defeat Tift County in Tifton and going up to Grayson High and upending the Rams – which is what Colquitt County did on Sept. 21 – is the team factor. There was very little in the way of excitement and enthusiasm on the Grayson home side that evening. Perhaps the locals expected their ‘all-star’ team to roll without any difficulties. Maybe there’s no connection between those who reside in this little niche of Gwinnett County and players who in all likelihood didn’t grow up there.

Tift County, as well as Colquitt County, are one-public school communities. There is nothing else to take away or divide anyone’s attention. Tift County is a basketball powerhouse right now with a state championship just two years ago, and when you go to that gym, there is kind of a Kentucky-esque feel to the atmosphere once the boys get into action. If they can multiply that by a factor of two or three tonight … nobody should be sitting on their hands waiting for things to happen on either side.

Perhaps this season is a case study on playing down or up depending on the level of the opposition. Coaches can’t assume that will happen every time when it is a high-caliber team on the other side, and Rush Propst here with the Packers isn’t going to do that. He already said in one story that Colquitt County must run the football in order to win, and they need to stop Tift County from doing what it did last year (getting 200 yards from one back).

Defensively, nothing’s been wrong with the play of the Packers. The string of quarters without an offensive touchdown allowed is up to 10 (yes, Alcovy with its lack of first downs takes up a slice of that number).

Who has had as many goal-line stands as this team? The first time with the football, Camden County was 1st-and-goal on the 1; drive ends on field goal of 30-plus yards. Back on Sept. 7, Valdosta (can anyone figure them out?) was up to the 1 in the first half … no points. Even Grayson tried an early 4th-and-short sneak on the Packer 11 only to turn it over on downs.

So Tift is going to have a hard time producing like it did on Lowndes with three touchdown passes. If plays take a slow time in developing in the backfield, forget it. Mark it down now as TFL. There’s 126 of those already, 74 by linebackers.

What could swing the game, however, is what didn’t swing the Camden game. The Wildcats won the turnover margin, three in their favor (fumble recovery that became touchdown, interception, muffed punt return) to two against. And the penalties, 10 for 97 yards on Colquitt.

“I think that was a lack of focus,” said Propst. “Our team is a team still to me that has not found its identity. They have this ceiling set real high, but sometimes they don’t want to get to what it takes to get to that ceiling. Sometimes we lose focus.

“Last year you could chalk it up to youth, inexperience. This year we are an experienced football team. Some of these mistakes we should not be making. If they do, that’s a problem with focus. We lose focus because we’re not self-disciplined. Maybe we will be focused in this week and play really well, but it’s a hope. The game is won by focus, by playing disciplined, tough, hard-nosed football. You have to discipline yourself.

“You have to be careful with complacency. You have to be careful with expecting it’s just going to happen. I didn’t like our crowd (Friday) night. I didn’t like the way we played. I don’t think we’re as hungry as we were. It’s just expected because we show up, and it doesn’t always happen. You have to continue with a pace of doing what you do to sustain success.”

Let us not forget the implications for playoff seeding. While it worked out that Colquitt played for a state title – on another team’s home field – as a No. 3 region seed in 2017, Propst does not want another barnstorming postseason run. Finishing no worse than second means there will be some home playoff action – which brings with it playoff revenue – for the Packer program. If anyone is looking for a Grayson rematch, losing to either Tift, Lowndes or both could mean the difference between facing the Rams at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and going back to their community park.

Lots of other top-ranked 7A clubs are going to find out the value of a win or loss when the full bracket is released sometime between Daylight Savings Ends and Election Day. Walton High was cruising right along until, wham!, Roswell High – remember Roswell? – defeated it last weekend by one in a region tilt. Region rivals Grayson and Archer were on ESPN2 the night after Hurricane Michael, and the Rams turned a close contest into about a four-possession rout late.

The Rams must have had some semblance of focus on that Archer defensive might. Scary.