The Portal Panthers pitched their second straight shutout and, in the process, set up a huge region championship showdown next Friday in Portal as they traveled to Darien and knocked off McIntosh County Academy 27-0 Friday night to improve to 6-3 (3-0).
“I was definitely happy with the result,” said Portal coach Jason McEachin. “We did some good things at time on offense, and had a shutout by our defense, but we also have plenty to clean up between now and next Friday.”
The Panthers held the Bucs on their first defensive possession, and were able to come down and put-up points on offense. Quarterback Elijah Coleman has been a permanent fixture in state-wide plays of the week, and he had a few more Friday. After having a 55-yard touchdown called back, Coleman scrambled ahead for 21-yards and a first down. Two plays later Coleman lobbed the ball up into the end zone and Amir Jackson went up and hauled it in for a 6-0 Portal lead.
The Panthers were unable to score on their next two possessions and it was 6-0 entering the second quarter. Early in the second the human highlight film was at it again. Coleman took off down the far sidelines where he seemed to be wrapped up by a Buc defender, he broke loose, was grabbed again, managed to get away and sprinted 63-yards to extend the Panther lead to 12-0.
After a Brian McQueen interception Portal managed to get the ball down to the McIntosh 26-yard line. With less than 15 seconds remaining in the half Coleman scrambled around, sprinted down the near sideline and then quickly cut across the field untouched for the touchdown. Coleman went in for the two-point conversion to extend the lead to 20-0 at the half.
“We weren’t as crisp as we wanted to be especially in the first half,” McEachin said. “We didn’t have a lot of possessions in the second half as it went by pretty quick. We will definitely take the outcome and putting ourselves in a spot to play for the region championship at home Friday.”
In the third quarter Portal only had one possession keyed by a 30-yard run by Coleman. A 32-yard field goal attempt by Alfredo Fernandez was just wide right leaving the score 20-0 entering the fourth quarter.
Portal finally got into the end zone in the fourth quarter as Coleman hit Jackson for a 20-yard touchdown pass. The extra point by Hayden Scott was good for the final of 27-0.
The win improves the Panthers overall record to 6-3 and they are 3-0 in region play. The Panthers have assured themselves of a home state playoff game for the first time since 2004 and Friday they will host No. 1 ranked Jenkins County for the region championship.
“We have been talking about how things could unfold and we are so excited about having the opportunity to host the region championship game,” McEachin said. “I feel like the moment is not too big for this team. We are expecting a great crowd and I am super thankful for the number of fans that came out here tonight and the support we have gotten from them the whole season.”
