NFL

Autistic kicker allowed to play football after legal fight

It’s good!

Anthony Starego, an autistic placekicker waging a months-long legal battle to play one more season of high-school football, has been cleared to play.

Hours after the decision by New Jersey athletic officials, Starego basked in Friday night’s lights and attempted an extra point.

The kick was blocked, but you wouldn’t know it from the cheers and joy surrounding the Brick HS footballer.

Anthony Starego was happy to play in Friday’s game.Doug Hood/Asbury Park Press

“I missed the kick, but I’m still happy I got to play,” he told The Post after his team beat the Toms River South HS Indians, 47-21, at home. “I’m happy that I get to play another year. It’s been hard not knowing.”

Anthony turned 19 in June and is now in his fifth year of high school — making him ineligible to play under state rules.

When the state Interscholastic Athletic Association decided in April that he couldn’t play this fall, Starego and his family sued, arguing the rule should be waived because Anthony’s position doesn’t involve contact and he shouldn’t be deprived of the game’s therapeutic benefits.

Anthony functions academically as a 10-year-old.

The association agreed Friday to let Anthony play another season for the Green Dragons, after a judge rejected their reasons for sidelining him.