Last year the Portal Panthers were able to take down Jenkins County in their regular season finale to win the region championship. Last Friday the two teams opened region play and Jenkins County got some revenge with an impressive 48-19 victory. This week the Panthers look to rebound against another of the region’s top teams at Bryan County.
The Panthers hung tight in the first half Friday against Jenkins County. A late pick-six by the Eagles put the Panthers in a 27-19 hole at halftime and they never recovered getting outscored 21-0 in the second half.
“There were several key moments in that game where I feel if we had played them differently it could have changed the outcome,” said Portal coach Jason McEachin. “We definitely didn’t play well enough to win, but some of those key moments could have given us a shot. We missed on a fake punt and an onside kick, and then the interception late in the first half really hurt us. Our kids have responded this week so far with some good practices and I feel like we are ready to put that behind us and move on.”
This week the Panthers have no time to lick their wounds as they hit the road for Pembroke to take on Bryan County. Bryan County comes in with a record of 2-1 after victories against Johnson and Savannah High, and a 42-20 loss to Aquinas. They are led by junior running back Anddreas McKinny who is averaging just under 120-yards rushing per game. The Panthers lost a hard-fought game to Bryan County last year, falling in the final seconds by a score of 22-14.
“This is a game we know we have to win if we want to give ourselves a chance at the playoffs,” McEachin said. "They are a team we have played tight games with the past couple years. They have a big offensive line and are very physical with the run game. They are going to continue to run the ball right at you and we have to be able to slow them down and try and win the battle up front. On defense they are blitzing a lot more than they have in the past and they have some athletes with speed on that side of the ball.”
Bryan County knocked off Savannah High last Friday 28-0 in a game that was called with about four minutes left in the third quarter as a fight erupted on the field. Disciplinary actions were taken, but McEachin is unaware of how many Bryan County players may miss the game Friday and who they may be.
“We just have to go into the game expecting all their best players to be there,” McEachin said. “It’s unfortunate what happened in the Savannah High game, but we have no way of knowing who may miss, so we have to be prepared.”
Portal and Bryan County will play Friday at 7:30 in Pembroke.
