Friday night, Starr’s Mill faced off against Griffin in their annual Homecoming game. Despite opportunities to avoid falling to 0-5 to begin the season, the Bears defeated the Panthers, 37-19.
“We had a couple opportunities to get back into the game on the third down that we missed on,” defensive coordinator Brandon Frey said.
From the start the Panthers fell behind Griffin as the Bears took an eight point lead while pushing Starr’s Mill to the ten yard line. Junior Nolan Blackwell and sophomore Cayden McFall prevented Griffin from scoring another touchdown. This respite was short-lived as the Bears fought through the defensive line to score another touchdown, increasing their lead to 16-0.
Neither team could advance the score the rest of the first quarter as junior Thomas Cochran and senior Erik Lundstrom prevented Griffin from scoring another touchdown.
“I developed some plays when there really wasn’t much going on,” Cochran said. “I used my legs to get out the pocket and give my team a chance.”
Going into the second quarter Griffin scored another touchdown, increasing their lead to 23-0. The Panthers then scored twice in four minutes to cut the deficit to 23-13.
Griffin’s attempt at retaliation had been shut down by Lundstrom once again. However, Griffin’s persistence allowed them to widen the point gap with Starr’s Mill to 37-13. In response, Starr’s Mill pushed forward, leading to a touchdown by Blackwell, pushing the score to 37-19.
“It felt good, like I was able to put our team in a position to win the game,” Blackwell said. “It was my first ever receiving touchdown, too.”
Despite the tenacity and energy Starr’s Mill displayed late in the game, they were unable to recover from Griffin’s early dominance. The Panthers fall to 0-5 to begin the season, 0-1 in region play.
Starr’s Mill travels to Mundy’s Mill (0-5, 0-1) on September 26 for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.