The Portal Panthers christened in their new scoreboard by keeping a zero on the visiting side the entire game and coming away with a 28-0 victory over Montgomery County to improve to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in region play.
The 7-1 start is the best for the Panthers since before any of this year’s team members were born in 2005.
“It was really a complete game,” said coach Jason McEachin. “We got a shutout from our defense and some huge stops by them in the first half. Offensively I feel like we ran our offense well and even got a blocked kick on special teams. We will have to look at the tape but this was probably one of our most complete games.”
Portal started out strong, marching down the field and scoring on an 11-yard pass from Omad Thomas to Zeke Purcell for a 7-0 lead.
It looked as though Montgomery County would answer as they drove down to the 20-yard line but quarterback Rilynn Dees got hit and coughed up the ball and Portal’s Cale Hardy recovered. That score would hold up into the second quarter.
The two teams traded fumbles and fumble recoveries, and then the Panthers moved the ball down field as Thomas and Purcell hooked up again. This time it would be a 20-yard touchdown pass and catch as they extended their lead to 14-0.
Montgomery County turned the ball over on downs late in the second and with under two minutes to play the Panthers elected to try and get some more points on the scoreboard. A screen pass to Jason Crawford would end up in a 40-yard pick up down inside the 10-yard line. Later as time expired, K.J. Hunter broke into the end zone from one-yard away to extend the lead to 21 to nothing at halftime.
In the third quarter Montgomery County switched quarterbacks putting in Zaden Waller who primarily ran the ball. The Eagles ate up over eight minutes of clock and tried to break the shut out with a 28-yard field goal attempt but it was blocked by Jace McEachin and the Panthers would take over.
In the fourth quarter Portal would add one final score as a Thomas pass to Jason Crawford was tipped. but Crawford was able to haul it in and go the rest of the way for the touchdown from 40 yards away and the final points of the ball game.
“You want to be playing your best when the games matter the most,” McEachin said. “We have given ourselves a chance to compete for a region championship and the state playoffs and we’d like to host a playoff game and all those things are still on the table.”
Next up for the Panthers they have a bye week followed by a showdown in Twin City against ECI.
