Edwards, Fitzgerald hope to help lead teams to Orange Bowl win

Dec. 21—MOULTRIE — Their high school careers now in the rear-view mirror, former Colquitt County All-State players Ryan Fitzgerald and Daijun Edwards are out to lead their college teams to what would-be an emotional Orange Bowl victory.

Edwards, the starting running back at Georgia, has two national championship rings, but the Bulldogs will not get a chance to play for a third-straight title after losing to Alabama 27-24 in the Southeastern Conference championship game.

Fitzgerald is the redshirt junior kicker for a Florida State team that, despite its 13-0 record and ACC championship, was left out of the four-team College Football Playoff.

It was the first time an undefeated team and Power 5 conference champions was denied a spot in the playoff.

One of the two former Packers will have to deal with an extremely disappointing end to the season on Dec. 30, in Miami.

The two were teammates on Colquitt County teams that suffered excruciating state championship game defeats in 2017 and 2018.

But both have embarked on remarkable college careers since leaving Colquitt County.

The Orange Bowl could be the final collegiate game for Edwards, a senior who leads the Bulldogs in rushing with 819 yards on 157 carries and has scored 11 touchdowns.

Colquitt County's all-time leading rusher and touchdown- scorer has quietly produced a solid career at Georgia.

He has rushed for 2,021 yards and 22 touchdowns in his four years in Athens. He also has caught 36 passes.

Edwards' career high was 146 rushing yards at Vanderbilt this season. He had his career-long gain of 62 yards in that game against the Commodores.

He scored three touchdowns in the victory over Auburn in 2022.

While playing for Rush Propst and Justin Rogers at Colquitt County, Edwards, a four-star recruit ran for 4,413 yards and scored 66 touchdowns, both Packer records. He was ranked as the No. 21 back in the nation as a senior, when he was named to the All-State team.

Fitzgerald has been Florida State's primary placekicker this season, with 58 conversions and 18 field goals.

For his career, he has made 44 field goals and has kicked 164 extra points.

He was a semifinalist this year for the Lou Gross Award, presented annually to the nation's top kicker.

He has been an All-ACC Academic Team member and has earned a place on the ACC Honor Roll.

Fitzgerald also has already earned undergraduate degrees in accounting and risk management/insurance from FSU's College of Business and is working on his master of accounting degree.

Before he headed to Tallahassee in 2019, Fitzgerald was a five-star kicker and the No. 14 prospect in the country.

He holds two Georgia state high school records with 51 field goals and eight field goals of 50 yards or longer.

As a senior in 2018, he made 22 field goals and was a first-team high school All-American.

His 60-yard field goal against Archer in his junior year is the fifth longest by a Georgia high school kicker.

Fitzgerald holds the school record with 51 field goals and kicking points, with 324. His extra-point record of 171 successful conversions was surpassed this fall by younger brother Brett, who now owns the record with 177 extra points.

But for all their high school successes, a state championship eluded both Edwards and Fitzgerald when they played on Colquitt County's outstanding 2017 and 2018 teams.

Both of those teams reached state championship games, only to fall excruciatingly short.

Fitzgerald was a junior and Edwards a sophomore when the 2017 Packers went 7-3 in the regular season and finished third in Region 1-7A.

Colquitt then went on the road four straight weeks to defeat Pebblebrook, Walton, Archer and Brookwood to earn a berth in the state championship game at North Gwinnett.

The Bulldogs got a 1-yard run for a touchdown from Cameron Butler midway through the fourth quarter to take a 16-10 lead.

But the Packers then went on a 12-play, five-minute drive that ended with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Steven Krewjewski to Josh Hadley with 49 seconds remaining.

Fitzgerald's extra point put the Packers up 17-16.

But the Bulldogs took advantage of three crucial Colquitt County penalties, including a pass interference call on what would have been the last play of the game.

That penalty allowed the Bulldogs to send out Cameron Clark, who kicked a 38-yard field goal on an untimed down to give North Gwinnett its first state championship.

It is still the only state championship in Georgia history decided on the final play.

The game had originally been scheduled to be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, but a snow storm postponed the game a week and it was ultimately played at North Gwinnett, which was the higher seeded team.

Fitzgerald also had a first-quarter field goal in that game and converted after the Packers' third-quarter touchdown.

North Gwinnett held Edwards to just 54 yards on 11 carries.

The next year, the Packers rolled to 14 straight wins and were ranked as high as No. 2 in one national poll when they faced Milton at Mercedes-Benz in the championship game.

The Packers were unable to move the ball consistently against the Eagles, who scored on an 11-yard run on a fourth-and-1 with 11:47 left in the game to take a 14-10 lead.

Later in the fourth quarter, Colquitt drove to the Milton 10, but had to settle for what proved to be Fitzgerald's final field goal as a Packer.

Colquitt had one more possession, but could not score and fell 14-13 in what one computer service ranked as the biggest upset in Georgia state championship game history.

Fitzgerald had the two field goals and one extra point, but had one field goal attempt blocked.

Edwards ran for 101 yards on 17 carries and scored the Packers lone touchdown.

The game was the final one coached by Rush Propst in his 11 seasons on the Packers sideline.