Football season kicks off Saturday

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

The preseason of high school football ends Friday night and starts with a bang on Saturday with the Corky Kell Kickoff Classic at the Georgia Dome.

McIntosh will host Spalding in a scrimmage on Friday night, while their opponents in the season opener next Friday, the Fayette County Tigers, will host Mt. Zion, Jonesboro. Both games are scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.

Starr's Mill scrimmaged against the Harrison Hoyas last Friday night and struggled. Harrison was the team that knocked the Panthers out of the state playoffs in the georgia dome last year. Starr's Mill gets to face another top rated program in the Dome at 11:45 a.m. on Saturday when they take on East Coweta in the Corky Kell Kickoff Classic. Tickets are $12 and give you admission for the other three football games on Saturday. The other games include Dacula vs. Westside-Macon, Brookwood vs. harrison and Parkview vs. McEachern.

Starr's Mill coach Mike Earwood feels his team is progressing day to day. The Panthers graduated most of their skill position players last spring and have replaced them with players who were playing junior varsity last year.

"The team really needs to get some game experience," said Earwood. "Playing Harrison last week and east Coweta this week, they will grow up in a hurry."

Some key players for Starr's Mill to watch on Saturday are Recarta Heard, replacing Reuben Houston, Patrick Mullinix, stepping in for quarterback Brad McClaren, Rodriguez Heard and Chris Strauch, replacing Jason Laney, cornerback Deante Battle and free safety Alex Cookfair.

East Coweta will present a challenge. The Indians return eight starters from the offense and five starters from the defense. Coached by Danny Cronic, the team annually has a number of skilled athletes with great team speed. Players to watch for East Coweta are junior quarterback Lee Heaberlin, junior tailback Derek White, senior wide reciver Zach Smith and senior fullback Preston Strickland.

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