It's been a season of ups and downs so far for Portal. Following a few weeks of rough outcomes on the scoreboard despite plenty of positive notes, the Panthers broke through with an overtime victory over Savannah two weeks ago before last week's bye.

"I think we showed some growth and proved something to ourselves in that win," Portal coach Jason McEachin said. "We made mistakes early, but kept battling. No one panicked."

The Panthers completed the comeback by scoring first in the extra period and then stopping the Blue Jackets cold.

"It was a big moment for us," McEachin said. "Obviously, we love the win, but we took a moment (before overtime) to focus. We went to our core plays that everyone trusts and we executed. Then we just had to make a couple of stops."

The win kept Portal in the playoff hunt, but — as McEachin alluded to — may have provided an even bigger spark of confidence for a team that has played well for most of the season despite a 2-4 record that might not reflect the fact. 

Portal has spend the last week soaking in the win and also healing up a bit.

As much as most teams would love to ride the momentum and try to tack on another victory, McEachin admits that his team is banged up a bit and took full advantage of the open spot on the schedule.

"It's not an excuse. It's just something that pretty much every team is dealing with right now," McEachin said. "The season is long and it's tough. We had a week to get some guys feeling better, but we're probably still going to have a few starters out this week. That's just something we all have to prepare for."

Friday brings another tough region matchup and the renewal of a heated rivalry as the Panthers make the short trip over county lines to take on ECI.

Following a few down seasons, the Bulldogs are currently rolling at 5-2 and have their sights set on anoter run in the state playoffs.

"They're solid and consistent just about everywhere," McEachin said. "We're definitely stressing to our kids the importance of getting off to a good start. We have a lot of confidence in what we can do, but ECI is a good team and it takes a great effort to win this time of year."