The ugly Starrs Mill-McIntosh lacrosse rematch

Basmati's picture

On Friday night, April 21st, Starrs Mill faced McIntosh in a lacrosse rematch. McIntosh thoroughly destroyed Starrs Mill 14-2, but newpaper accounts probably won't tell you just how ugly a game it was.

It began early in the first period. A McIntosh player levelled a Starrs Mill ball handler with a hard, but entirely legal, body check.

One of the Starrs Mills coaches evidently then ordered his team to "headhunt" the McIntosh player who delivered the body check.

On the next McIntosh offensive possession, things got ugly:

  • a Starrs Mill defender swung his stick at a McIntosh player (who did not have the ball). The ref saw this and threw a penalty flag.
  • The same player then swung on the backswing seconds later and hit ANOTHER McIntosh player (play in lacrosse does not stop for penalties until the ball hits the ground) and the ref threw a second flag.
  • The same Starrs Mill player then charged up to the ball handler and delivered a THIRD illegal stick slash. At this point the ref had to yell to the other ref to throw HIS flag for a third penalty! This all happened in a span of 40 or so seconds.
  • When play stopped, the ref explained all three penalties to the player in question. The player then screamed an obscenity at the referee, which resulted in a technical foul (a "non-releaseable" penalty...typically all penalties are forgiven or "released" if the opposing team scores).

In all the years I've watched lacrosse, I've never seen a player lose it like this one did....but it got worse.

In the second period, the Starrs Mill players were still trying to attack the McIntosh player. The refs were watching for this now, and called three slashing penalties in a two minute span on three separate players.

To put things in perspective: a slashing penalty is as rare as a thunderstorm (i.e. every now and then they happen). A double slashing penalty is as rare as a solar eclipse. A triple slashing penalty is as rare as Haley's comet: you will see one maybe once in your life.

But it got still uglier.....

Early in the second half, a Starrs Mill player was finally able to blindside the McIntosh player. He took his stick and struck the unsuspecting McIntosh player in the head, from behind.

The referees both immediately threw flags and sent the player to the penalty box...where he was met by the Starrs Mill coach who was yelling "attaboy" and praising the player for his actions

The McIntosh coaches were thoroughly disgusted with the actions of the Starrs Mill coaches and told them so to their faces.

The Starrs Mill coaches then had the gall to ask that the McIntosh coaches be ejected from the game for criticizing the Starrs Mill players publicly

All in all, it was in my opinion the absolute worst display of sportsmanship I've ever seen in all the years I've lived in Fayette County.

Starrs Mill High School should be ashamed of these coaches. They are a disgrace to their team, their school and their community.

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Forget Starrs Mill
Submitted by jonah1825 on Sat, 05/26/2007 - 10:22pm.

I have a hate for Starrs Mill. They disgust me. I go to Whitewater and play lacrosse and i went to this game. I was so sick to my stomach of watching this. And the fact that Starrs Mill had the nerve to post up SMHS on a McIntosh building was wrong. Then at our school they put we paid the refs on Wildcat Way which leads into the school just because we beat them 15-14. All in all, they have no sportsmanship and no manners. They are a disgrace to their awful school and to all of Peachtree City. FSM

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pretty good account
Submitted by concerned teen ptc on Wed, 06/21/2006 - 8:51pm.

that was a fairly accurate account. good job. I played in that game for McInosh and I was disgusted. this is only the beginning. lacrosse grows larger every day here in peachtree city, in fact, it is the fastest growing sport in the county. I encourage all the residents of peachtree city to at least go to a mcInsosh home game this upcoming year. it is the most exciting sport that i have ever seen or played. at least go to one game, just to see what its like, it is fast-paced, dynamic, constanly moving, and it is just downright fun to watch.

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Starr's Mill/McIntosh Lacrosse Match
borntorun's picture
Submitted by borntorun on Mon, 04/24/2006 - 7:54pm.

You're right about the Starr's Mill coach being an embarrassment to not only the school but to the sport of lacrosse. He should be disciplined if not outright fired by the Starr's Mill administration for his actions. While he's not the first lacrosse coach to exhibit a "football" mentality, he is definitely the first I've seen to cross the line and congratulate and high-five his players on cheap shots!

Anytime you have cross county rivals playing one another, there is already a little extra incentive in the air to not only win but to show up the opponent. That's fine....nothing wrong in wanting to show who has the best game but keep it in context, play according to the rules of the game and show good sportmanship. However, to have a high school head coach encourage and congratulate his own players for physically attacking opposing players with cheap shots outside the rules of the game is pretty sick.

Kudos to the referees for realizing early what was going on as they told him if he kept it up, the game would be called then and there with Starr's Mill forfeiting the game.

It was obvious going in that McIntosh had better skilled players than Starr's Mill as reflected in the first game's score so I guess he felt like well if we can't beat them fairly, we'll just resort to cheap shots and illegal intimidation.

You know the thing is most of the kids on the Starr's Mill and McIntosh teams also play together on the Fayette County Club team (just like in soccer, Starr's Mill and McIntosh players play on Lightning or Lazers as a club) and are good friends. In fact, after the game, most of the Starr's Mill and McIntosh players were laughing and hugging one another with "good game" congratulations all around. Sad to see the Starr's Mill coach felt the need to try and turn kids who are friends against one another just to win a game with illegal tactics.


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Not alarming to me.
Submitted by McDonoughDawg on Mon, 04/24/2006 - 3:37pm.

Most all of the Starrs Mill folks think that McIntosh is SO FAR below them atheletically, that they shouldn't even forced to compete with McIntosh. I can see how they would get rattled at being thrashed by McIntosh.

Still, if your accounting is half-way true, I totally agree, Starrs Mill Coaches/Players should be embarassed.

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Very erroneous and slanted account
Submitted by SMHSlaxer on Mon, 06/26/2006 - 3:15pm.

First off, slashing is a very common penalty especially for a defender. The triple slash that is referenced was in no means malicious. The player was trying to dislodge the ball from a McIntosh attacker who was driving toward the goal. Instead hitting the stick, the player in question inadvertantly made contact with the opposing attacker's arm pads. Normally this is a non-call, but the referees were calling a tight game as should be expected in a heated rivalry.

Second our coach never told us to head hunt. In fact quite the contrary is true. After the "blindside hit," which in fact was perfectly legal asside from incidental helmet-to-helmet contact, one of our players declared that it was "open season." Our coach benched that player for the rest of the game, and told the rest of us to stay calm.

The reason we wanted the McIntosh coach removed from the game is because came onto the field asking why the penalty from previous hit wasn't more severe. When it was explained to him, he began swearing at our bench and at the referee.

Toward the end of the game we did indeed lose our composure, but it was of our own doing not our coach's. There was a great deal of bad blood between these two teams. This is to be expected when McIntosh players say, "Your team sucks," as opposed to the customary "Good game," after the teams shook hands after the first game.

So, no that account isn't half-way true. Even though I was quite embarassed, the embarassment had nothing to do with the conduct of our coach. I was embarassed that we were the only Starr's Mill team to lose to McIntosh this year and the fact that we couldn't keep our heads screwed on straight. Being that this was one of my last games donning the blue and black, I made it known to my teammates that if they ever want to succeed they must keep their composure and play within the rules. This was a very young team with only 5 seniors participating. Hopefully, they learned something from this experience and will not let it happen again.

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The most well composed among you is a SMHS student.
Enigma's picture
Submitted by Enigma on Sun, 05/27/2007 - 8:29am.

Well written young man. The previous obsessive blogs/comments were emotive and speculative.

It is nice to see something well written from someone who was actually on the field who could see and hear everything. Even better, it is well written for a young person.

Keep up the good work and good luck in college.


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