In mid-November, Portal is usually prepping for holiday tournaments and early games on the basketball court.

Action on the hardwood will come in time, but for now, it’s still football season.

Last week, Portal celebrated just the second state playoff victory in the football program’s history. The Panthers took care of business as a top seed in the Class A Division II bracket, knocking off Turner County by a count of 35-12.

“I’m very proud of our guys,” Portal coach Jason McEachin said. “We set some goals and expectations for ourselves before the season started and they’ve achieved a lot and there’s still more work to do. I know we have a great basketball team that a lot of our (football) guys play on and I’m sure they’ll do great. But I think everyone is happy to not have to focus on that just yet.”

Portal may have been in uncharted territory as a top seed and heavy favorite last week, but the Panthers played the part well. Portal raced out to a four-score lead by halftime to put things away rather early.

If there were any negatives to be taken away, it was the fact that the offense spun its wheels in the second half.

McEachin took notice and was sure to turn it into a coachable moment when practice resumed this week.

“We gave up a couple of quick scores in the second half,” McEachin said. “I think our guys will take a lesson from that. We can’t afford to get too complacent at this point. Every play counts.”

And nothing gets easier from here on out.

On Friday the Panthers will again stay at the cozy confines of the Portal Athletic Complex, this time hosting Telfair County, which dispatched Randolph-Clay in its first round game last week.

The Trojans (8-2) feature a talented offense that has put up at least 28 points in all but one of their victories this season. Telfair has a handful of talented skill position players that primarily focus on moving the ball along the ground.

That will call for another big shift in focus for the Panther defense.

"I think we may have defended three or four passes the last two games of the regular season," McEachin said. "We saw 42 last week, but now we're up against another team that runs it well.

"I think we've shown that we can play well against any offense or defense we see. The key is how we use our two-way guys. There are guys that are important to us on both sides of the ball, so we have to consider how we use them to keep them as fresh as possible throughout the game."

The Panthers are in the round of 16 for the first time since 2006 — the year in which the team's only other state playoff win ocurred.

The winner of Friday's game will face either Aquinas or Macon County in the state quarterfinals. Portal would host a matchup against Macon County. If Portal and Aquinas are to meet in the next round, the home team will be determined by a coin toss conducted by GHSA officials later this week.