Heading into Starr’s Mill’s match-up against East Coweta, the Panthers looked to defend their home turf and maintain their undefeated season. The JV Panthers had a high scoring offensive showcase against the Indians, winning an important mid-season match-up.

East Coweta took an early 6-0 lead, but the Panthers quickly countered by recovering a fumble and then driving down the field and scoring. With the score at 7-6 in favor of Starr’s Mill, the Panthers poked the ball loose again.

After a scoring drought that took place early in the second quarter, sophomore halfback Michael Bennett helped the Panthers drive down the field and cap off an impressive drive by punching in a touchdown to give the Panthers a 14-6 lead with 4:03 left in the half.

East Coweta quickly countered with a huge 70-yard touchdown run to make the score 14-12. With 38 seconds remaining prior to halftime, the Indians recovered yet another fumble. Keeping the trend alive, the Panthers picked off a pass with nine seconds left before heading into halftime with a slight edge on the scoreboard, despite four combined turnovers between the two teams.

“We wanted to come right out and take the ball down and score right off the half,” coach Chad Walker said.

The Panthers immediately took control of the game by recovering a fumble with 8:29 left in the third. After this swing in momentum, Starr’s Mill scored again to make the game 21-12 in favor of the home team.

“We needed to clean up our mistakes and not make the same mistakes twice, and that’s exactly what we did,” Walker said.

East Coweta struck back just seconds after the Panthers scored by returning the kickoff and making the score 21-19.

“We could have improved on our tackling, it could have been a blowout if we tackled,” freshmen runningback Ardit Hoti said.

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Hoti played a big role in the high scoring game and he had a huge kickoff return to put the Panthers in good field position.“Offensively, Hoti had some great plays, long runs, and a few scores,” Walker said. Starr’s Mill quickly scored to make the game 28-19 in the middle of the third quarter. The Indians countered and ran the ball in with 3:43 left in the third, and the score was a close 28-25.

The Panthers looked to seal the win and they did just that by scoring with 6:33 left in the game. Michael Bennett scored his second and most crucial touchdown of the day as he helped the Panthers outlast the Indians.

East Coweta responded but it was too little too late and the Indians fell to the Panthers with a final scoreline of 35-31.

“It was back and forth at the end of the game and our defense came up big at the end,” Walker said. “On defense, [junior Ashton Mcfarlin] played really well and made some big tackles.”

After an important home win for the Panthers, they had a bye week that they used to prepare to for the Sandy Creek Patriots.

The two teams met at Patriot Stadium on Sept. 29 and the Panthers’ preparation was not enough as they were beaten by the Patriots 28-14.

This loss may be a setback for the team, but they still hold one final goal above all the rest: beat McIntosh in their last game of the season as the two teams meet in a mini battle of the bubble.

Starr’s Mill has one game prior to their match-up with McIntosh, against Newnan on Oct. 6. Then, the junior varsity football team will close out its season against McIntosh at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 13 in Panther Stadium.