Though their classification was different, the Starr’s Mill Panthers varsity football team was in a similar situation last year.

They had made the state quarterfinals and were facing their toughest opponent of the season, the undefeated Brookwood Broncos. The Broncos did not give up a lot of points and they scored a lot, 470 points in the games leading up to their quarterfinal match with Starr’s Mill. The Panthers entered the game riding a four game winning streak. In the second round game the week before, the Panthers escaped with a win by a close margin. Last year they defeated Colquitt County 16-14, this year they beat Baldwin 19-14. They were ready for the game against Brookwood and played hard, some in the stands consider it one of the finest football games they have ever seen, but the Panthers fell short and lost 28-19.

There are differences this year and Coach Mike Earwood feels this team is very different from last year’s team.

“We’re a lot younger on defense for one thing, and this team has overcome a lot more adversity,” Earwood said. “We had to play well in our last three games to even make the playoffs and then we’ve had to keep it going. We’ve played five pressure games in a row.” Earwood believes that some of the challenges the team faced, including dealing with several key injuries earlier in the season, forced the team to explore things and open up the offense a bit. Dealing with those issues has brought about depth and allowed the team to spread things out a bit more than they had in the past.

Another difference this year was that Starr’s Mill did not enter the playoffs as a region champion, they were the fourth seed, which means they have been on the road since the playoffs began and they will be on the road again tonight. They are currently on a five game winning streak and, like last year, they are preventing teams from scoring a lot of points during their winning streak (10.5 ppg last year, 7.6 ppg this year).

Their opponent this year is the East Paulding Raiders. The Raiders enter this game with an 11-1 record. They have outscored their opponents 483-99 this year and are currently riding an eight game win streak. Unlike Brookwood, which only had one shutout last year, the Raiders have recorded four. East Paulding appears to be a dominant team but at this point in the playoffs, everyone deserves to be there and any team can win on any given night.

“At this point in the season there are no bad teams left,” Earwood said, while describing the Raiders. “They have a well-balanced offense that spreads the ball around and doesn’t allow you to focus on solely the run or the pass.”

Sound familiar?

Earwood added that East Paulding has a talented quarterback, running backs and fullback and that their offensive line is big, featuring some 300 pounders leading the way for their ground game. The Raider defense is solid and the team’s quarterback also leads an excellent kicking game as the team’s punter. He will attend the University of Florida next year.

Starr’s Mill, which has had multiple heroes throughout the season, got a huge game from Brandon Witta last Friday. Witta blocked a field goal, ran 71 yards for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass. A threat in every game he has played in this year, he will likely be targeted even more by the Raider defense, but the Panthers have more weapons at their disposal, including quarterback Robby Davis and receivers Dante Cheek and Eric Pitts, among a number of other players. The Starr’s Mill defense has also been a great weapon, making big stops and causing turnovers that have helped their cause.

Among the standouts on defense this year, especially in the last five games, are the linebackers Matt Sweat, Chris Sudduth and Parker duPont.

East Paulding’s quaterback/punter is Chas Henry and among his weapons on offense are tailbacks Steve Delzince and Matt Benton and receiver Josh Collier. The defense has received boosts from the play of Colton Reid and Eric Gaylord.
Tonight should be a great game between two of the top teams in AAAA and the winner will punch their ticket to face the winner of the Creekside/Marist game next Friday at 9 p.m.

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