PORTAL — For three weeks, the Portal Panthers were forced to lick their wounds. Two consecutive blown second half leads and a tough sub-region road loss would be enough to dishearten most teams, but Portal bounced back with a vengeance in its 29-6 victory over Montgomery County last week.
    The Panthers were able to turn things around after having to endure some early adversity. Trying to fool Montgomery with a pass – something that the Panthers rarely do – the ball was thrown backwards and turned into a fumble that surrendered possession on the first play of the game.
    “That backfired on us,” said PHS coach David NeSmith. “But we buckled down and stopped them on defense. It would have been very easy to throw our hands in the air and say ‘here we go again’, but we kept on fighting. That’s what we like to see.”
    Once the Panthers got over that first hurdle, they gained their footing on offense, marching down the field multiple times to get a comfortable lead, then keeping its composure and not allowing any more late comebacks.
    Getting such an important win — and doing so in such impressive fashion —has everyone involved with the Panthers riding a bit higher.
    “It’s not just the team,” said NeSmith. “This is big for our fans and the whole school. There’s just a different feeling that you get floating around after a win.”
    Portal is heading in the right direction, but now faces a pair of new tests. First, the Panthers must carry over their success through their open week Friday. After that, it’s on to a date with No. 3 Emanuel County Institute.
    Throughout the preseason — and even through the trying weeks of the Panthers’ three-game slide — NeSmith has maintained that he thinks his team can be very successful and make a run at the state playoffs.
    After dismantling Montgomery County, he hopes that his players will start to get the same kind of confidence.
    “We aren’t quite to the point where we’re expecting to win every game, but having success like this and continuing to improve from week to week is what we’re hoping will get us to that point.
    “Honestly, I want our guys to have a little swagger. It’s not cockiness, but it’s good to believe in yourself and know that you can win each week.”
    Now standing at an even 1-1 record in sub-region play, the Panthers are poised to turn the corner and make a run through the final half of their regular season schedule. ECI will be a tough test — Portal hasn’t beaten its rivals from Twin City since 2005 — but the road favors the Panthers the rest of the way.
    In their final three sub-region games, the Panthers get two home dates and will only face one team that currently has a winning
record.
    Last season, Portal made a late run in the same part of its schedule, but six straight losses to start the year kept them out of the playoff hunt. This time around, the Panthers are looking to take the next step.
    “We don’t really talk about the playoffs,” said NeSmith. “We just take each week as it comes. Of course, getting to the region play-in round and into the state playoffs is the ultimate goal. We just need to focus on winning each week and see where that leaves us.”

    Mike Anthony can be reached at (912) 489-9404.