MOULTRIE — Brett Fitzgerald kicked a 43-yard field goal as time expired to give Colquitt County a 38-35 victory over Lowndes on Friday on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium.
The loss in their Region 1-6A opener was the first of the season for the Vikings, who are now 5-1 overall.
The Packers are 4-2 and 1-0 in the region with a trip to play at Valdosta next Friday.
Neither team had a lead of more than seven points.
Colquitt had leads of 7-0, 28-21, 35-28 and 38-35.
Lowndes led 14-7 and 21-14.
The game was tied at 7-7, 14-14, 21-21, 28-28 and 35-35 before the Packers took their final possession.
The Vikings had just tied the game with 5:20 remaining on a 7-yard pass from Jayce Johnson to Jaquan Thomas and an extra point from Aiden Andrews, who then put his kickoff into the Colquitt County end zone.
But the Packers drove from their 20 to the Lowndes 26.
Colquitt converted on third down twice and on fourth down once to keep the drive alive.
After Day’Shawn Brown ran the ball one yard to the middle of the field at the Lowndes 26, the Packers let the clock run down to 2 seconds.
Fitzgerald followed with the 42nd and most consequential field goal of his four-year Colquitt County career.
Fitzgerald had broken his brother Ryan Fitzgerald’s previous state scoring record of 324 kicking points with his extra points after the Packers first two touchdowns.
The Packers scored on their first offensive snap of the game on a 31-yard pass from Lawson to Na’Ryan Sumlin.
Lowndes answered on its next possession with quarterback Jayce Johnson scoring on a 30-yard run and the game was tied 7-7 with 8:10 still remaining in the first quarter.
Marvis Parrish gave the Vikings a 14-7 lead with a 9-yard touchdown run with 1:56 left in the first quarter.
But with 40 seconds left in the quarter, the Packers ran a double-handoff that ended with Lamar carrying the football 71 yards to the end zone and the game was tied 14-14.
Lowndes regained the lead on a 78-yard pass from Johnson to Parrish just a minute into the second quarter.
But Lamar re-tied the game for the third time when he took a short pass from Lawson, broke several tackles and ran 77 yards to make it 21-21.
Lamar scored again in the second quarter on a 35-yard run that put his strength and speed on full display and Colquitt led 28-21 with 6:20 remaining in the half.
After Fitzgerald was short on a 52-yard field goal attempt with 3:05 left , Lowndes drove 80 yards to tie the game 28-28 on a 10-yard pass from Johnson to tight end Aiden Sefa with 24 seconds remaining.
But the Vikings were able to score just once in the second half.
Colquitt got the ball first in second half and drove 82 yards on 17 plays, running 6 1/2 minutes off the clock to score on an 8-yard Brown run to go up 35-28.
The Vikings last possession started on their own 25 with 6:56 left in the game and Johnson led them to the Packers 7, where he hit Thomas for the touchdown.
But Lowndes was unable to get the ball back.
Lamar had 13 carries for 182 yards and Brown had 26 attempts for 131 yards as Colquitt rolled up 471 yards of offenses.
Lawson completed 6-of-15 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns.
Johnson completed an unofficial 19-of-26 passes for over 300 yards and three touchdowns. Jaylin Carter caught 11 of those passes.
The Vikings rushed for an unofficial 114 yards.
Parrish and Johnson each ran for a touchdown for the Vikings, who will travel to play Tift County next Friday.
The Lowndes-Colquitt County game was originally scheduled for Friday, Sept. 27, but was postponed because of the effects of Hurricane Helene.
The second half was played under a drizzle that did not appear to affect play.