Starr's Mill holds off Central 38-35 to avoid playoff rematch loss
In one of the most exciting finishes during the 2023 Georgia High School Association playoffs, the Starr’s Mill Panthers walked off victorious after a Logan Inagawa touchdown pass to Lincoln Delaere, as the final horn sounded, gave them the win over the Central Lions, who they faced as region opponents on Friday night.
“It was special tonight and I guess the two matchups we’ve had with them have both been that way,” Starr’s Mill head coach, David Cooper said after their win on Friday night, acknowledging the Panthers had the meeting with the Lions this season marked on their calendar once the two teams became region opponents following the region realignments.
“I’m just proud of my kids man,” Cooper added as he shared reaction to watching his team overcome early mistakes to get the win. “We were able to correct that and take advantage of some stuff in the second half,” Cooper said of the Panthers efforts in the game in which turnovers plagued the them early on in the game, in which neither team would score until the second quarter and Central would lead 21-14 at halftime.
As the third quarter got underway, Cooper and the Panthers would pull off a successful onside kick that would lead to a Logan Inagawa touchdown pass to Lincoln DeLaere and with the extra point,would tie the game at 21. However, the Lions would regain the lead thanks to JR Harris’ pass finding Khaven Cochran in the back corner of the end zone, as Central would take a 28-21 lead.
However, thanks to a few defensive stances that would result in Central having to punt the ball away to Starr’s Mill, the Panthers would tack on a field goal and two more Inagawa touchdowns, which would be his fourth and fifth touchdowns of the night, to put the Panthers back in front 38-28 and despite the Lions getting another score late in the fourth quarter to get within three points, a missed game tying field goal would lead to a 38-35 win for the Starr’s Mill.
“He’s a special player. He’s a three year starter for us and he’s our team leader, he’s our vocal leader, he’s our leader in the weight room, he’s our leader in the school, the kid is special,” Cooper said of Inagawa, who finished with three rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns. “Some college coaches need to take note of that,” Cooper added.
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