Packer OL Xzavier Ward is a member of the Score 44. Photo by Colquitt County High School

Expectations can be a cruel and tricky thing. Coming off a deep run in the state playoffs last season and with a dominant offensive lineman in Score 44 member Xzavier Ward, Colquitt County was expected to compete for a state title in head coach Rush Propst’s third season with the South Georgia school.

The region seemed to set up perfectly for a top-two seed in region play entering the playoffs with the Packers traveling to Lowndes but hosting Valdosta in the regular-season finale. The Packers struggled offensively in a loss to Cook and were then shellacked by South Panola (Miss.) in week two. Last Friday, the Packers traveled to Thomas County-Central and could not stop the veer offense enough to defeat the Yellow Jackets.

Now Propst has called the upcoming Westlake game a must-win in a recent article in the Moultrie Observer, and it just might be. The Packers must get ready for Region 1-AAAAA play, which begins Oct. 8 with a trip to Tift County. Because of reclassification, the once-toughest region in the state has dropped to just five teams, meaning Colquitt County will need to just not finish last in region play to make the playoffs.

Once in the playoffs, anything can happen and perhaps Propst can get his team to recall last season’s run to the semifinals, when the Packers knocked out Westlake, Stephenson and Lassiter along the way. Propst has a fine playoff pedigree from his time in Hoover, Ala., and perhaps that is why the expectations were so high entering this season. Bottom line: Colquitt County should make the playoffs and will probably make some noise once there, but it is a shame that some folks are considering them a bust at this point in the season. Colquitt County hasn’t busted out yet. That is the good thing about having playoffs and the Packers are lucky to not have acquired any losses in region play yet.

As Tommy Palmer said recently on Sports Central XL, “All a team needs is to start believing around week 5 or 6 and then watch out come playoff time.” If Colquitt County starts believing, a deeper run in the playoffs could be coming, and this team will be motivated to avenge all of these early-season losses.