By: Ron Reagin

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Valdosta travels to Mack Tharpe Stadium on Friday for its Region 1-7A opener against Colquitt County. The game is on GPB.

The Wildcats are 6-0. The Packers are 5-2 and already own a region win after beating Richmond Hill 31-14 on the road last week.

Valdosta has played only one game in the last four weeks after a forfeit win over Booker and a scheduled open date.

The Wildcats also spent this week on fall break with no school. They have tried to keep their weekly routine as normal as possible during the open dates, practicing some mornings with meetings and lifts throughout the day.

Still, the biggest unknown is how the players and coaches will respond after the long layoff from the Friday night lights. Most programs are deep into their regular rhythm by October. Valdosta will find out whether the extra rest leaves them sharp or whether the time away shows up early on the road.

The Wildcats have only made one road trip this season, a Week 1 win at Jones County. Moultrie is a difficult place to play, and Valdosta has not won there since 2010. That history adds another layer to a game that historically carries region implications.

Colquitt already has region experience. The Packers led Richmond Hill 17-14 at the half and finished with three interceptions, two of them in the end zone.

Against Richmond Hill, Colquitt completed 13 of 22 passes for 206 yards and 4 touchdowns with no interceptions while rushing for 114 yards.

For the season, Khi Mitchell has thrown for 1,138 yards and 12 touchdowns. Antwan Lockett has 27 catches for 489 yards and six scores.

Colquitt has also played two of the top five teams in Class 6A this year, which has given the Packers a tougher non-region slate than most teams in the region. Their offense has been inconsistent game to game, but the Packers have generated 86.5 tackles for loss and 10 fumble recoveries on defense.

Valdosta’s offense has been efficient through six games. Deron Foster has rushed for 725 yards and 15 touchdowns. Marquis Fennell has added 559 rushing yards, 399 receiving yards, and 14 total touchdowns.

Tripp Perry has completed 74.6 percent of his passes for 650 yards and 7 scores. The Wildcats are averaging well over 400 yards of total offense per game and enter region play as healthy as they have been all season.

Maxwell’s current projections have Valdosta as the No. 1 team in Class 7A with a projected final ranking of No. 1.

Colquitt sits at No. 9 with a projected finish of No. 6.

A win for Valdosta would strengthen its hold on the top spot and keep its path toward a high seed intact. A loss would drop the Wildcats and open the door for other teams to move up.

For Colquitt, a win would improve both its current standing and its projected finish, while a loss would make the climb steeper with tough region games still ahead.

Shelton Felton and Sean Calhoun spent time together on Rush Propst’s staff at Colquitt before both moved into head coaching jobs. They know each other’s tendencies. That shared history rarely decides games, but it means both staffs understand what the other side wants to do.

Valdosta’s recent schedule has been light. Whether the extra rest and altered week leave the Wildcats sharp or a step slow will be one of the early questions on Friday.

Colquitt has already played a competitive region game and comes in with a defense that creates negative plays.

Both teams can move the ball. The difference may come down to which side handles the conditions and atmosphere of the night better, especially with Valdosta making only its second road trip of the year in a place where the Wildcats have not won in a long time.

With the GPB cameras on and both programs in the mix for the Region 1 race, Friday night in Moultrie will give a clearer picture of where each team stands.