The Starr’s Mill football team had players and assistant coaches scattered to different sports for much of spring practice. But that’s OK with coach Chad Phillips, who believes guys shouldn’t be limited to one sport and encourages participation in spring activities.
So as far at spring football, Phillips said, “We made the most of it.”
The Panthers sustained some big losses from last year’s 11-2 team, but the athletes at the school have been trained to set high standards and schooled with the mindset of working hard. With that in mind, the staff – most of them in place for more than a decade – began to lay the groundwork for the 2018 season. Starr’s Mill has won the region title the last two seasons.
“We got a chance to spend a lot of our time with the ninth and tenth grade kids,” Phillips said.
Much of the searching began at quarterback, where a replacement is being sought for Joey Deluca, an experienced and dependable leader on the team’s wing-T offense.
Hunter Lawson and Nate Kearns, the two main contenders, missed most of the spring by participating in baseball. They joined the football team in time to get in two practices and play in the spring game.
That left most of the snaps for Austen Millians, last year’s JV quarterback, and gifted freshman Colin Bartek. All four will be the mix for the job when the competition begins for real. Millians and Bartek took all the snaps until the end of the spring.
They also uncovered some running backs to replace the likes of Cole Gilley, Nick Brown and Mitchell Prowant. Junior Deondre Duehart and sophomore Jaylen Rutherford were two of the bright spots.
They offensive line will be in pretty good shape. Phillips said there are eight guys who can play and understand the intricacies of the offensive scheme.
The defense had a productive spring, too. Jalen Lazenby moved in and joined the team. All the linebackers came back. The defensive line, led by Kelvin Weyl (5-11, 270), took positive steps, too.
In fact, the first-team defense dominated the second-team offense in the spring scrimmage. Likewise, the first-team offense moved the ball effectively against the second-team defense.
The Panthers will also be helped by the presence of kicker Michael Lantz, a five-star recruit who has received offers from most schools in the Power Five conferences. Lantz punted and kicked for both teams in the scrimmage and was already in midseason form.
Starr’s Mill will begin its off-season workouts on June 4. The Panthers open the season on Aug 24 against Mount Zion.
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