Panthers on prowl for 3-0 start

Portal (2-0) at Screven County (0-2)

The Portal Panthers are in the same spot they were in at this time last year as they are currently 2-0. The biggest difference in last season and this though is the point differential. Last year the Panthers won by a combined 68-20 and this year it is 80-0 against the same two teams.

Head coach Jason McEachin was said he was happy to have had a bye last Friday and feels like the team is ready to try and continue to roll this Friday at Screven County.

“I feel like we got some rest and despite losing two players for the rest of the year we are pretty healthy,” McEachin said. “On offense we like where we are and I think we have done a good job of playing to our strengths and getting rid of things that haven’t been working. On defense we have back-to-back shutouts and even though we have played guys on both sides of the ball they have responded well.”

The Panthers and the Gamecocks had both scheduled Georgia School for Innovation and Classics this year but the Patriots decided just before the season to drop football. Screven County and Portal each had this Friday free after the decision so they were able to schedule a game.

The Gamecocks come in with a record of 0-2 which includes a 30-7 season opening loss to Bacon County, and a 28-16 loss last Friday at Westside of Augusta. 

The Gamecocks lost the majority of the seniors who helped them to a 9-2 record last year and a state playoff berth including quarterback Jake Pollack and leading receiver Dylaun Adams. The Gamecocks do return last year’s leading rusher sophomore Andre Michaud who had 580 yards and seven touchdowns last year as a freshman.

“They have a similar offense to what we saw with Hawkinsville so we have an idea of what to expect,” McEachin said. “I think they really improved from week one to week two. They are pretty young as they are only playing two seniors and I think we have the edge there in experience. They have good size and athletes all over the field. I am glad we are playing them early as I think they will continue to improve week to week.”

The Panthers and Gamecocks are set for a 7:30 p.m. start Friday night at Kelly Memorial Stadium in Sylvania.

Rebels roll into Southeast Bulloch

Effingham County (1-2) at Southeast Bulloch (1-1)

Southeast Bulloch head coach Jared Zito said prior to the season he believed having two bye weeks toward the beginning and end of the season worked out perfectly for him. The Jackets are currently 1-1 with a 21-0 win over Liberty County followed by a 12-7 loss to Statesboro. This week the Jackets host Effingham County and he feels good about having two weeks to prepare for the Rebels.

“We had a chance to try and clean up some things last week,” Zito said. “With the hurricane coming through last week it was good to get some rest and not have to worry about playing a football game Friday night."

Zito was able to watch Effingham (1-2) host Statesboro last Friday and says he feels like the Rebels made some big strides from their first two games into the Statesboro matchup.

“Watching that game, I felt like Statesboro hurt themselves with turnovers,” Zito said. “If we play the same way we will probably lose too. Effingham seems to have found some things that are working for them including running the ball a lot more than they did last year. They are pretty solid on defense and we know they will be tough to play.”

The Rebels are led by quarterback Nate Hayes, but have a pair of running backs that have done a lot of damage this year. While coach Danny Ford threw the ball a lot last year Effingham had success on the ground last Friday against Statesboro with nearly 200 yards distributed between last year’s leading rusher Jayden Evans and Calvary Day transfer A.J. Butts. 

“The two backs they have are tough, but we really feel we have to try and watch out for their quarterback too, and try and keep the ball out of his hands,” Zito said. “Those two running backs are also really good linebackers for them. I think we have been playing good fundamental defense lately and I think we can keep that going. On offense we have to hold on to the ball and not turn it over and maybe get our passing game a little more involved this week.”

Southeast Bulloch and Effingham are scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start Friday at Fred Shaver Field.

Rested Gators welcome Trinity

Trinity Christian (0-3) at Bulloch Academy (2-0)

The Bulloch Academy Gators entered their bye week on the heels of a couple of pretty impressive victories. The Gators currently stand 2-0 after a 36-20 season opening win over Tiftarea, followed by a 51-7 drubbing of Augusta Christian whom they fell to 26-18 last season.

Gator head coach Aaron Phillips feels the team had a pretty restful off week and are anxious to get back to action this Friday at home against Trinity.

“We had a few guys banged up a little and a couple out sick, so last week having Friday off really helped,” Phillips said. “We had a couple tough scrimmage games and then went right into our first two games of the season so in many ways it was like a break after four games. We were without five guys who missed the Augusta Christian game and we have them all back and are ready to see what we can do Friday.”

One of the Gators' reasons for success this year was their biggest weakness from a year ago. Last season the Bulloch Academy defense surrendered 30 points per game. This year they have outscored their opponents by a combined 87-27 in their two games.

“We felt like after self-evaluating after last season we realized we were slow on the defensive side of the ball,” Phillips said. “All off-season we worked on getting quicker and faster and moving kids over there to make us faster so we could fly around better. I have figured out that I would rather have speed over size on defense. I think that is why we are so much improved on that side of the ball.”

This week Bulloch Academy returns to Gator Alley as they host Trinity Christian from Dublin. Last year the Gators won a shootout in Dublin 57-55. This year the Crusaders come in 0-3 and have been outscored by their opponents by a whopping 95-3. Phillips is aware of the Crusaders struggles but is trying to focus more on his own team for this Friday.

“We think we are a better team but we have to go prove it,” Phillips said. “There are going to be times this season where we will have a few more athletes than our opponent but we can’t ease up. We have to treat them the say way we would if it was Frederica or Pinewood. That is the mentality we have been preaching and we are hoping it resonates with them.”

Bulloch Academy and Trinity are scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start Friday at Gator Alley.