The Portal Panthers are in the middle of a dream season, but to keep the good times rolling they’ll have to take down a very familiar foe.
Portal has ripped off seven consecutive wins following a loss in their season opener. More importantly, the Panthers have won each of their first two Region 3-A games and are in prime position to notch a top seed in the state playoffs.
Trying to rain on the Portal parade Friday night will be longtime rival Emanuel County Institute, which will welcome the Panthers to Twin City for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
“We know what’s at stake,” Portal coach Jason McEachin said. “We have some big goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of the season, but we have to keep things in perspective. Our biggest focus now is a very solid and well-coached ECI team.”
Portal will be fresh off of a bye week. With no school and the fair in town, some coaches might be on edge. But McEachin attributes much of the on-field success to a committed group of seniors who stepped up throughout the week just as they have on Friday nights.
“We kept it to three practices, but everyone’s head was in the right place,” McEachin said. “We had seniors scheduling pickups and rides to make sure everyone got to the field on time and we’ve been back to business as usual this week.”
ECI has been hitting high gear lately, winning its first three region games by a combined total of 119-28.
Aside from raw talent, the potent Bulldog offense uses plenty of formations and presnap motion to try and confuse opposing defenses. With dual-threat quarterback and Virginia Tech commit Davis Johnson spreading the ball around and running back Ab Marsh racking up yardage, a Portal defense that has slammed the door on many teams will face one of its toughest tests yet.
On the other side of the ball, KJ Hunter, Zeke Percell and Jason Crawford are all over 300 yards on the ground this season as part of the Panthers’ methodical and dangerous option attack.
"We just keep following the plan," McEachin said. "We're a prepared team and we trust our guys to continue to play hard and disciplined like they have all season."
