The Portal community united together full of spirit for Senior Night to support their Panthers at Portal Middle High School to fend off the Screven County Gamecocks. The Panther's valiant rally towards a comeback was not enough for the Gamecocks pressing offense finishing the game 26-21 on senior night.
1st Quarter
The night started off with a powerful kickoff from Alfredo Hernandez around the 25-yard line to start the game against Screven County in Portal, Georgia. The Panthers realized quickly this was not going to be an easy battle when with a massive 50-plus-yard touchdown from the Gamecocks on the first play of the drive to start things off. The Gamecocks would follow up with intense defensive pressure to force multiple stops to secure the ball back on offense, but it wasn’t enough to get a touchdown with defensive stops by Samari Mcbride and Cedric Williams.
2nd Quarter
The first six minutes into this quarter, the Gamecocks maneuvered their way into another passing touchdown through the Panthers defense. The Panthers then began to feel the spirit from the supporting home crowd in attendance with an eltricfying 55-yard touchdown from senior running back Jaylon Strickland putting the first points on the scoreboard for the Panthers. The Gamecocks matched this momentum with a forced fumble on the next drive the Panthers had on offense to stop the rising energy roaring in the stands from the fans. Portal head coach Jason McEachin was all over the referees throughout the quarter for calls made on the field for his offense and defense. These reactions throughout the quarter led to the coach being flagged by the referees leading to a Gamecocks touchdown to finish the quarter 20-7.
3rd Quarter
The Panthers came back out the locker room ready to put on for their home fans with a pivotal forced fumble recovery from senior middle linebacker Chase Smith. This play turned the tables of the game for Portal with a powerful offensive drive down the field by Samari Mcbride leading to a rushing touchdown at the goal line by Mcbride. The fans were all behind their Panthers roaring with energy leading to multiple key defensive plays by Cedric Williams to hold the Gamecocks from scoring and to finish the quarter out strong.
4th Quarter
The Portal Panthers continued the fight scratching their way back into the ballgame with big tackles from 6 '2 defensive end Joshua Coleman to hold the Gamecocks off. Brian Mcqueen jumped into the defensive action with heavy tackles to frustrate the Gamecocks at the goal line, but it was not enough to stop their offensive maneuvers. The Panthers were not out of the game yet, taking in the energy from the crowd in attendance to force multiple stops on the defensive end with big plays from senior Cedric Williams to put the ball back in the Panther's possession. This led to a 55-yard pass by Chase Smith to Brian Mcqueen for a touchdown to inch the score to 26-21. These monumental plays on such a special night for the seniors were not enough to topple the Screven County Gamecocks with the final score being 26-21.
Words From Coach McEachin
“The way we do, and the way all good programs do it regardless of any outcome whether the seasons over as far as playoffs the process stays the same so we're gonna go back, meet Sunday as a staff to look at what we did wrong, what we did right, what we need to change, and what we can approve and put a plan together for the kids and go to work on Monday just like we are playing for the state championship,” said Portal Head Coach Jason McEachin.
Up Next
The Panthers hold a 3-5 record now ranking 7th in the region with two more games to play in the season and will be putting that record on the line next Friday, November 1, as they travel to in Darien, GA, to take on the number three team in the region, the McIntosh County Academy Buccaneers.
