After nearly a month since their last game, the Portal Panthers hosted the Emanuel County Institute Bulldogs. Portal fell behind early and lost to the Bulldogs 38-3.
1st Quarter: Early miscues put the Panthers behind
After being forced to a 3 and out on their first drive, Portal snapped the ball high over the punter’s head and put Emanuel County in great possession for the first score of the game. ECI’s Ab Marsh was able to punch it in to make the score 6-0 after a blocked extra point attempt.
Portal was able to respond with a field goal after a defensive pass interference on 4th down. The Bulldogs marched back down the field and scored off of a 7-yard rushing touchdown by Chase Johnson to extend the first quarter lead to 10.
2nd Quarter: Portal digs a deeper hole
Another bad snap on a punt put the Bulldogs at the Panthers’ 26 yard line early in the second quarter. A reverse run play found Marsh racing to the endzone for his second score of the game. The Panthers offense couldn’t find a way to put together a successful drive down the field and found themselves down 20-3 going into the half.
3rd Quarter: The Bulldogs pile it on
The Bulldogs continued to move the chains with their run game in the 2nd half. They closed the opening drive with a rushing touchdown to widen the gap between them and the Panthers. After finding themselves down 31-3 late in the 3rd quarter, Portal started to make some big plays. A 32-yard run by Harold Washington followed up by a 20-yard run by Brian McQueen looked like the making of a scoring drive for the Panthers. However, after a penalty and play that went backwards, Portal found themselves in a 4th and long situation. The Panthers could not convert the fourth down and that led to ECI scoring for the last time in the game.
After the game, Head Coach Jason McEachin got his team together. He told them that it is “gut-check time.” He said that if they continue to make the mistakes that they make against good teams tonight’s result is what they are going to get. The Panthers have region play to close out the rest of the season, and need to get off the streak that they are on.
Portal currently sits with a 2-4 record on the season with a 1-3 record in region play. With the majority of the region within arms reach, the Panthers can still climb up the rankings if they can bring home some victories in the last part of the season.
Up Next:
The Panthers will make a short trip down the road to take on the Claxton Tigers on Friday, October 18th. The game is set to kickoff at 7:30 p.m.