No. 3 Colquitt County makes case for national crown with second straight Georgia 6A title

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Colquitt County prevailed in one of the top games of the week.

The case for Colquitt County (Moultrie, Ga.) as a national football champion was made emphatically by the Packers at the Georgia Dome on Saturday night.

The nation's No. 3 team won its second consecutive 6A Georgia title and 30th game overall with an impressive 30-13 win over No. 10 Roswell (Ga.). Chase Parrish passed for 309 yards, Qwazavia "Ty" Lee accounted for more than 200 yards of offense, Kiel Pollard rushed for two touchdowns, and the defense did the rest after giving up a shocking 80-yard touchdown on the second play of the game.

Colquitt County coach Rush Propst, who won five Alabama state titles at Hoover, said his team deserved a national crown if it ran the table.

Before the game, with a regional television network broadcasting, the polarizing coach told his team "This is your finest hour. Play with class. Play like you're the best team in the state. Play like you're the best team in the nation. You have 48 minutes to prove it."

The only teams head of Colquitt are No. 1 Centennial (Corona, Calif.) and No. 2 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas). Centennial plays No. 8 De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) in CIF Open Division championship next week.

Earlier this week, Probst said: "Football is just exploding in Georgia. I've talked with Nick Saban and Will Muschamp and Ed Orgeron and all agree, nobody is playing football any better than kids in Georgia. Not California, not Texas and not Florida. ... If we win out, I think we deserve a national championship."

It didn't look good early.

It took just two plays for Roswell to take 7-0 lead on an 80-yard touchdown pass from Quintarius Neely.

Colquitt County came right back on its next drive with Pollard, utilizing a big stiff arm, going 15 yards for a touchdown to tie things up at 7-7.

Pollard made it 14-7 on Colquitt County's next possession, capping a long drive with a 10-yard TD run. It was a lead the defending champions would never surrender.

After a Roswell field goal, the Packers made it 21-10 on a 25-yard TD pass from Parrish to Lee midway through the second quarter. Parrish, battling illness all week — even hospitalized — threw for 309 yards and finished 30-0 as a starter. He also finished as the Packers' career leader in passing yards.

The teams traded field goals over the next 18 minutes, giving Colquitt County a 24-13 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Colquitt County kicker Luis Martinez put the finishing touches on this one with field goals of 26 and 43 yards to become the state career leader in Georgia history. The Colquitt County defense gave up 31 fewer points than Roswell averaged during the season.

It was the seventh state title for Propst.

"I think our body of work proves we deserve it (national championship)," Propst told fans after the game. "We've been chased all year and responded every time."