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Starr’s Mill starts 2005 season with practices

By MICHAEL THOMPSON
mthompson@thecitizennews.com

It’s Wednesday morning, a stifling 93 degrees on the practice field and Starr’s Mill junior quarterback Robby Davis barks the cadence to his offensive teammates in a skeleton passing drill.

Taking the snap, he drops back and throws to a receiver down-field who runs a crisp out route, catching the ball effortlessly.

“That’s how you do it,” said Head Coach Mike Earwood, who in his ninth year at Starr’s Mill has a strong returning nucleus from a team that went 10-2 last year, making the second round of the 5-AAAAA play-offs.

“This is going to be a fun team to watch and we (the coaching staff) have worked them hard this summer getting them to the point they are now,” Earwood. But they still have a long way to go, he said.

With less than a month before Starr’s Mill High School opens its 2005 campaign with a night game at the Georgia Dome, the Panthers have been in preparation for that contest all summer. Some of the players will tell you they have been ready to play since the second round play-off loss to Camden County last year.

“This whole summer we have had workouts with weights, running and sprinting and other things,” said senior center Bryce Petty. It will all pay off in the end, as we prepare for McEachern, he said.

“We started practice on Monday (July 18) by doing a conditioning test and then going out in helmets for a long time... we don’t get to put on all the pads until camp,” said Petty.

For the fifth year in a row the Panthers will participate in the Corky Kell Kick-off Classic at the Georgia Dome, playing McEachern.

The Panthers are led on offensive by massive senior tackle Tony Barr, who stands in at 6’4” and nearly 300 pounds. He has already received scholarship offers from Mississippi State, the Air Force Academy and Wake Forest.

“We’re going to be a good offensive team,”said Barr. “Traditionally, we have always run the ball well and this year is going to be no exception,” he said. Not only that, but the team has 30 seniors on the roster, adding experience and leadership to the program.

“This program starts when you’re at Rising Starr Middle School and runs on up until now, so you have a long time to grow together and gel as a team,” said Barr. The Panthers will head to Covington, Ga., on Sunday for football camp at the Future Farmers of America facility. They will practice three times a day, with each session devoted to either offense, defense or special teams. “Camp isn’t the best experience in the world, but for a week we get to bond as a team, eat together, sleep together, so we’re better prepared for the season,” said Barr.

On Saturday, July 30, the Panthers will hold a varsity scrimmage from 10 a.m to noon, and on Friday Aug. 12 at 7 p.m., the Panthers will battle cross-town rival McIntosh in a pre-season scrimmage. Classes start for Fayette County schools on Aug. 8.