The delays of high school football games continued Saturday night at the Erk Russell Classic as Portal and Wheeler County had to wait to what amounted to more than the time it takes to play an entire game. After a three hour delay it was all Wheeler County as the Bulldogs cruised to a 44-7 victory.
Sloppy play, penalties and the inability to stop the Wheeler County offense would do the Panthers in. Portal head coach Jason McEachin felt despite the lopsided loss the Panthers had a few bright spots but overall, he knows there is plenty to work on.
“There were some things we did well, and obviously a lot of things we have to fix,” McEachin said. “A lot of kids were starting under the lights for the first time and we were proud of that and we're going to try to build on that. We will show them the film, and how we can improve and try to get that done as quickly as possible.”
Portal and Wheeler County were able to get about 12 minutes of time on the field before both teams headed to the locker rooms. Wheeler scored on their opening drive as quarterback John Miller had back-to-back runs of 24-yards and 15-yards before scoring from five yards out for a 6-0 lead as the extra point failed.
When the two teams finally took the field at about 9:15 Wheeler Co. and Miller picked up where they left off. Miller scored on a three-yard run and the two-point conversion by Jahkoryan Dinkins gave them a 14-0 lead.
Portal proceeded to have their best drive of the game. Back-to-back 15-yard runs by Jason Crawford helped get the Panthers down to the seven-yard line. A fumbled snap would end their drive as the Bulldogs Jeric Peeples recovered at the 10-yard line.
“I thought that was a huge play,” McEachin said. “I feel like we had first and goal and would have went in and scored. If that happens there’s a good chance we go to the half down only 14-7.”
Instead, Wheeler County quickly took advantage as Malik Madison lined up at quarterback and proceeded to reel off an impressive 84-yard touchdown run to make it 22-0. They’d add a 21-yard touchdown on a halfback pass from Dinkins to J.J. Woodard for a 28-0 lead.
Portal finally got on the board thanks in part to a 42-yard run by K.J. Hunter which set up a 21-yard touchdown pass from Omod Thomas to Rasheen Jackson to cut the lead to 28-7 at the half.
Wheeler tacked on a pair of touchdowns in the second half, but one of the bright spots for McEachin was the play of sophomore quarterback Omod Thomas who had some impressive moments passing the ball Saturday night.
“I'm really pleased with how Omod played,” McEachin said. “For his first start in that situation I thought he did some very nice things that allows me to have a little more confidence in him going forward. We were trying to lean on the run game as long as possible just for the sake of him and trying to help the defense. Now I know I can trust him to make good decisions with the football. He's a savvy kid and going forward maybe we can work the passing game in on a little more regular basis.”
Next up Portal will host Bryan County Friday at 7:30.
