The Portal Panthers are advancing to the second round of GHSA state playoffs after they defeated the Turner County Titans 35 to 12 in the first round of the GHSA State playoffs Friday night in Portal. The Panthers came into this game as a top seed after winning their first ever region championship in school’s history.
They will take on Telfair County Trojans, who defeated Randolf Clay Red Devils 28 to 8, in Portal.
“Soak it in, enjoy the moment.”
That’s what coach McEachin told his team before they started warm-ups of their first game of the GHSA State Playoffs. Everyone seemed excited to watch the Panthers take on the Titans as fans piled into the PAC Stadium with only standing room for the second weekend in row.
That moment was definitely seized as the Panthers defeated the Titans 35 to 12 .
The Portal Panthers have been having themselves a season going 7-3 overall and 4-0 in the region and tonight was no different as they strong-armed the Titans with a dominant win.
FIRST QUARTER
The Panthers were on the prowl to start the game. The first touchdown was scored by senior QB, Elijah Coleman, with a two point conversion made by senior WR, Amir Jackson to put the Panthers up 8-0 going into the second.
After a couple forced turnovers from both sides, Marcus Smith, senior linebacker, blocks a punt and the Panthers utilize that to get prime field position and then 4 penalties from the Titans allow the Panthers to run in their second TD of the game.
SECOND QUARTER
The Panthers had a couple of penalty calls in this quarter including a facemask that allowed the Titans to get within field goal range. They forced a turnover and Junior Linebacker, Samari McBride came up with a huge play on offense that put the Panthers in the red zone. This allowed Elijah Coleman to run the ball into the endzone for his second touchdown of the night and put Portal up 20-0.
Later on in the same quarter, the Panthers forced an interception which let Elijah Coleman score his third and final touchdown of the night putting the Panthers up 26-0.
THIRD QUARTER
The Panthers seemed to come out of the half a little laxed because the Titans were able to score their first and second touchdowns in the game to make it a 26-12 ball game.
A pass interference call gave the Panthers some breathing room, and allowed Amir Jackson to finally score his first touchdown of the game putting the Panthers up 32-12 going into the fourth.
FOURTH QUARTER
The Titans would not score anymore, but that didn’t stop the Panthers from rushing down the field to get into field goal range. Sophomore Kicker, Alfredo Hernandez put the final nail in the coffin for the Titans as he put the Panthers up 35-12.
The Portal Panthers will be back in action next week taking on the Telfair CountyTrojans for the second round of the GHSA State Playoffs at home.