It was a long day at the office for the Starr’s Mill football team as it fell below .500 following a home loss to Drew by a final score of 14-6.
“Drew is a really good football team,” said Starr’s Mill coach Chad Phillips, whose team is now 2-3 on the season. “Their defense is really good--Sandy Creek good.”
Starr’s Mill did not surrender the win easily on their Homecoming. Despite an anemic offensive, the defense and special teams provided enough impact to give Panthers a chance to take the lead late in fourth quarter before Drew sealed things with a score with two minutes remaining.
“This was our first game that came down to the last two or three minutes we’ve had this year,” said Phillips, whose team was either way up or way behind in its previous four contest. “We battled and we never quit, and that’s a good lesson to be learned and hopefully it will help us later on.”
The Panther D was in the trenches all game as they had to corral a Drew squad that was determined to rush the football. They responded to the challenge as they held their opponent to one score for the entire game up until the final two minutes. Linebacker Luke Ossanna made the defensive play of the game with a sack and fumble recovery which set up Starr’s Mill score, its first points of the game.
Starr’s Mill’s lack of offensive firepower was largely due to quarterback Kyle Moseley having to run for his life for much of the game. On Moseley’s two best drives the Panthers managed field goals of 30 and 37 yards, both courtesy of Daniel Rorick.
“Our kicker did an excellent job,” Phillips added.
The typically powerful rushing attack for the Panthers was limited to 90 yards. Dion Munnerlyn led with 40 yards on 11 carries with Gerren Smith adding 36 yards on nine carries.
Drew stuck with the run all game and were rewarded with touchdown runs by Marquis Terry from six yards out (3:46 1st) and Lester Knauls a yard out (2:10 4th).
After giving up the game's opening touchdown Starr’s Mill answered with a field goal that made the game 7-3 going into the second quarter. The game would remain this way until the Panthers cut the lead to a single point following a field goal with 11:08 in the third.
From there it was a battle for field position that Drew ultimately won following a 40 yard run by Jordan Metts down to the 4 yard line that set up a Knauls game-clinching TD score.
The Panthers will look to bounce back when they travel to take on Creekside this week. |
