PORTAL - The wait for a region championship is over for the Portal Panthers.  

Portal’s defense stopped Jenkins County’s Rob-tavious Coney on a two-point conversion attempt in overtime to come away with a 36-34 win and earn the Panthers their first football region championship in the school’s history in front of a standing room only crowd of approximately 2,000 at the Portal Athletic Complex. 

“It’s really indescribable. The tears of joy from the players and the hugs,” said Portal head coach Jason McEachin following the victory. “I thought we had a shot to get here when the season started, but to actually see it come full circle  and the way it ended in overtime with how hard our kids fought, I just cannot be more proud to be a Portal Panther than I am right now.”

Portal (7-3, 4-0 Region 3-AII) took possession first in overtime and following a pass from quarterback Elijah Coleman to wide receiver Amir Jackson moved the ball to the 5, Coleman took a loss when the War Eagles’ defense did not bite on play-action.

On second-and-goal from the 11, Coleman took the snap and rolled to his left. He spotted Samari McBride wide open near the right sideline in the end zone for the touchdown.

“We had a scheme called to the left and one of our receivers leaked back to the right.," McEachin said. "It was all covered and Elijah’s vision found him over in the corner and lobbed it to him. It wasn’t designed that way but we have kids that make plays.”

 Jackson was able to make a catch in traffic for the 2-point conversion to put Portal ahead 36-28.

“I wanted to try to be aggressive and try to win the game,” McEachin said of the decision to go for two. 

The War Eagles (9-1, 3-1) who have not won a region championship since 1960, answered on their possession in overtime with Zz Wilson scoring his second touchdown of the night on a three-yard run. That set up their 2-point attempt that would see Portal stop Coney and claim the region title. 

Twice Portal went ahead by two touchdowns, leading 14-0 in the first half and 28-14 in the second half. Both instances saw Jenkins County rally back to tie the score. 

“When we got ahead two scores in the second half, I thought we had a chance to separate and close it out," McEachin said. "But as good of a team as they are and the kind of heart and character they have, they never backed down and they found a way to tie the game back up.”

Leading 22-14 at halftime, Portal was able to stop the War Eagles on the opening possession of the second half and take over at their own 43. A steady mix of run and pass plays saw the Panthers drive down to the War Eagles’ 10 yard line. A sack on 1st-and-goal left the Panthers facing 2nd-and-goal from the 19. 

Coleman dropped back to pass and found Jackson double covered in the end zone, but threw it to him anyway. Jackson somehow snatched the ball from the Jenkins County defender for the score to put Portal ahead 28-14 with 5:58 remaining in the third quarter.

Jenkins County once again used its powerful rushing attack to get off the mat,, driving 56 yards on 10 plays to cut the lead to 28-21.

After Portal was forced to punt, JCHS took over at its own 44 and again marched down the field, converting on three third downs before Coney scored from a yard out. The extra point tied it at 28-28 with 3:55 remaining.

Portal looked as though it may win in regulation as they were able to drive down to the Jenkins County 19 yard line. However, a holding penalty and a fumble by Coleman erased any chance of a score, setting up the dramatic overtime. 

McEachin had nothing but praise for Jackson, who has committed to Florida to play next season.

“He showed why he’s an SEC football player,” he said of Jackson, who finished the night with nine catches for 73 yards and a touchdown. “But his character is way higher and will take him way further than his athletic skills.”

For a while in the first half, it looked like the Panthers might cruise to victory.

After the Panthers went three-and-out on their opening possession, Jenkins County started to march down the field from their own 44. On first-and-10 from the Portal 11, the War Eagles’ running back fumbled on the five yard line and Coleman scooped it up and raced down the sideline untouched to give Portal an early 6-0 advantage.

Portal forced a Jenkins County punt on the ensuing possession and took over on its own 27 yard line. Four plays later, facing 3rd-and-6, Coleman was forced to scramble all the way back to his 30 before breaking free and cutting upfield for a 21-yard run that saw an additional 15 yards added for a facemask on Jenkins County.

Two plays after that, Coleman found McBride open in the middle of the field for a 21-yard touchdown strike to give the Panthers a 14-0 lead with 11:11 remaining in the first half. 

The War Eagles responded with an 11-play drive covering 51 yards, including converting on three third downs. Coney capped off the drive with a touchdown run from five yards out to cut the Portal lead to 14-7.

Jenkins County’s kickoff following its frist score was a line drive that bounced off a Portal returner and was ruled to be recovered by the Eagles. McEachin called time out and spent the entirety of the stoppage discussing the outcome with the officials.

It looked as though Portal would be able to come away unscathed after recovering a fumble at their own 10, but they were flagged for too many players on the field. Jenkins County scored two plays later to tie the score at 14 with 56 seconds remaining in the half.

Portal would take possession at its own 42 and with the aid of two passes from Coleman to Jackson and Charles McNeal, the Panthers found themselves with a 2nd-and-10 at the War Eagles’ 11 yard line.

Offsetting penalties resulted in replaying second down, but this time with only five seconds remaining. 

Portal was unable to score on the next play, but another round of offsetting penalties gave Portal an untimed down before the half ended. 

Coleman scrambled and found Jackson near the sideline with a War Eagle draped all over him. Despite being interfered with, Jackson was able to come down with the ball to put Portal up. Coleman’s two point conversion pass to Chase Smith gave the Panthers a 22-14 lead going in to halftime. 

Coleman finished with 44 yards rushing on 11 carries while adding 129 yards and four touchdown passes to go with his 95-yard fumble return for a score.

Portal returns to the state playoffs for the first time since 2006 and will do so as a top seed. Next week, the Panthers will take on fourth-seeded Turner County (3-7, 1-3 Region 2-AII), which claimed its postseason berth with a victory over Atkinson County Friday night.

The Panthers will be looking for their second state playoff win in program history and first since 2004.