By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Sports Editor

As the season winds down for the county AAA teams, the stakes get higher. Starr's Mill traveled to Woodward Academy on Friday night to put their 7-1 record on the line. The Panthers knew they had a good shot at making the playoffs with only two games remaining in the season, but they never expected to come out so flat.

Woodward Academy (6-2) scored on their first two possessions, which came after a Panther turnover and a Panther punt. Down 14-0, Starr's Mill played better on both sides of the ball. The usual suspects on offense, Craig Maddock, Drew Cofty, and Brad McClaren drove the team down the field but could not score. The defense held off the War Eagles on one possession but allowed a touchdown and no extra point. The Panthers got the ball back with the clock ticking down. They drove down to the 10 yard line but could only score a field goal.

Both offenses could not get started in the third quarter until there was only four minutes left. McClaren hooked up on a large pass to Cofty and the drive was capped off with a touchdown run by Craig Maddock. Woodward Academy opened the fourth quarter with a touchdown and then intercepted a pass on the Panthers next drive. Woodward scored two more field goals in the match and won 33-10.

Both Starr's Mill and Woodward Academy are both 7-2 now. The Panthers will travel to Forest Park (4-5) this Friday, while Woodward hosts Jones County (4-5). Those games will determine the seeding in the upcoming playoffs.

Sandy Creek's game with North Clayton (7-3) started similar to Starr's Mill's game. The Patriots, like the Panthers, found themselves in a hole early. The difference was that Sandy Creek came back and stopped North Clayton from scoring the rest of the game. The difference was Gavin Bourgeois.

Down 13-0 on their Senior Night, Sandy Creek's defense got fired up. Bourgeois recovered a fumble on North Clayton's goalline, ran it in for a touchdown and kicked the extra point. The score was 13-7 and on North Clayton's next drive Bourgeois came through again. This time he intercepted a pass and ran it in for a touchdown. With the extra point the score was 14-13.

Neither team scored during the rest of the game, but both of them came close. North Clayton threatened to break the hearts of the Patriots with a field goal attempt in the closing seconds of the match. Jermaine Harris got a hand in the way to block it and Sandy Creek won the game. They improved their record to 6-3 and are still in the playoff hunt. The Patriots will host Jonesboro (2-7) on Friday night.

Assuming that Starr's Mill, Woodward Academy and Sandy Creek all win, all three teams should make the playoffs. Woodward would be the second seed for beating Starr's Mill head to head and Sandy Creek and North Clayton would both be 7-3, and the patriots have the head to head advantage. None of the games will be easy and the teams could use large amounts of fan support.

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