PORTAL — It didn’t take long for Pat Collins to achieve the first goal for Southeast Bulloch upon his arrival in Brooklet.
    He wanted to get that pesky 19-game losing streak dating back to the 2008 season opener off the backs of the Yellow Jackets.
    Southeast Bulloch rushed for 305 yards on its way to a 37-12 win at Portal in Friday’s season opener.
    “It feels great,” said senior SEB running back Dee Odum. “It feels like a burden has been lifted off the shoulders of the Southeast Bulloch community and the Brooklet community. We know that losing streak is finally over. We can forget about it now, and take one more step forward.”
    “It means we can go to the next goal,” added Collins.
    The Jackets turned a 14-6 halftime lead into a runaway in the second half, starting with a two-yard plunge by fullback David Johnson (10 carries, 80 yards) that made it 21-6.
    The Panthers (0-1) answered with a nine-play, 67-yard drive highlighted by a 31-yard run by quarterback Hunter Oglesby (26 carries, 137 yards, TD) that made it 1st-and-goal from the 1-yard line.
    Corey Walker punched it in to cut the SEB lead to 21-12.
    Southeast freshman Antonio McMillan responded on the ensuing kickoff, returning it 81 yards to the house for a 27-12 SEB lead.
    McMillan also had six carries for 35 yards.
    “Antonio is a gifted athlete,” Collins said, “but he’s a freshman. The bald spot in the back of my head is from where I’ve pulled my hair out. He’s going to grow and get better and better. He’s got a lot of God-given ability and talent that he’s learning to use within a system.”
    Odum (8 carries, 128 yards, three total touchdowns) ran his second rushing touchdown in from 34 yards out on the next SEB drive, and kicker Drew Ware rounded out the scoring with a 24-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
    “At times I thought we looked like a well-oiled machine, and at times I though we looked like a rusty, broken down machine,” Collins said. “It’s a matter of us getting out and continuing to practice.”
    A pair of first-drive false starts and a fumbled snap didn’t stop Portal from getting things going as the season got underway from their own 22-yard line.
    Devon Spells set the tone with three carries for 49 yards to get into Yellow Jacket territory, and the Panthers knocked on the door when Tony Mikell took an option pitch 21 yards to the SEB 11-yard line.
    Portal found paydirt when Oglesby ran in an option keeper in to give the Panthers a 6-0 lead. The extra-point attempt was no good.
    The teams’ next four-combined drives went nowhere, but SEB’s Dee Odum woke up the crowd after a second-quarter Portal punt.
    The senior running back took the first handoff from scrimmage 51 yards down the sidelines for a score to knot the game, and Ware’s extra point was good for a 7-6 Yellow Jackets lead.
    With 5:04 to go in the second half, Oglesby single-handedly put together a PHS drive with five of the first six plays going for option keepers, but on 3rd-and-5 from their own 40, the Panthers stalled and Cory Reese’s punt was partially blocked, giving the Jackets the ball on their own 46-yard line with 2:20 to go in the half.
    They mounted an eight-play, 54-yard drive that included a pair of 16-yard passes by junior SEB quarterback Cameron Duncan, including a strike to a wide open Odum in the corner of the end zone for a score and a 14-6 Jacket lead just before the half.
    The Panthers return to action Friday against Metter on the road at7:30 p.m. and SEB hosts Long County.

    Matt Yogus can be reached at (912) 489-9408.