Every athlete looks for that one special performance that can be remembered.
    James Brown from Emanuel County Institute couldn’t have picked a bigger stage to deliver his big night.
    Facing a tough Trion team in the Class A quarterfinals last week, ECI was barely afforded the luxury of possessing the ball, spending just 12:53 of the game’s 48 minutes on offense.
    When Brown did get a chance to tote the ball, he didn’t hesitate to capitalize.
    Brown capped off the Bulldogs’ opening drive with a touchdown run and, with ECI clinging to a 14-10 lead late in the third quarter, burst through for an 80 yard scoring romp to put the game firmly in the Bulldogs’ control.
    By the end of the night, Brown racked up 176 yards on just 14 carries to help to make sure that ECI’s season continues.
    “It was a very tough game,” said ECI coach Chris Kearson. “We had some guys break through when we really needed it. That’s the kind of thing you need to win in the playoffs.”
    Brown and the Bulldogs travel to Wilcox County with a trip to the Georgia Dome and the state championship game on the line.

    It’s been a rough few seasons for the Lady Panthers, but Shianne Hagins has things going in the right direction so far this year.
    The Panthers’ junior forward burst onto the scene with an All-Region performance two years ago and now has the rest of the Panthers striving for big things.
    Hagins led the way for Portal with 22 points in Tuesday’s 45-32 win over Montgomery County that boosted Portal to 2-1 on the young season.
    “I think it’s big for us to get a couple of early wins,” said Hagins. “It’s giving us a lot of confidence. I think that we all went into the season believing we could win, but it’s good to be able to go out and prove it right away.”
    Not only did the Panthers get another notch in the win column, but they did it against a team that might stand in their way farther down the road.
    Montgomery County sits on the other side of Region 3-A and might pop up again in the region tournament at the end of February.
    “This was a big win,” said Hagins. “We’re off to a good start, but we still have plenty of work to do. We just need to keep improving and see where we can go.”