It wasn’t turnovers or big plays, but special teams that undid Portal in the worst way possible against rival Jenkins County.
Leading 21-8 at halftime, a pair of botched snaps on punts — the latter being the most pivotal of the two — saw Portal’s lead slowly melt away as Jenkins County roared back on a 22-7 run to win 30-28 in Millen.
“90 percent of the game we played great, but it’s the little things that get you beat,” said Portal head coach Matt Smith. “You need to execute in crunch time. They were a good football team and we proved we could play football.”
Portal was able to survive the first botched snap on their opening drive of the third quarter by forcing Jenkins County on a four-and-out, but weren’t so lucky with the second. Leading 28-14 with just over 11 minutes left in the game, Portal would see their second long snap sail over punter Brian Ware’s head to see Jenkins take over at the Panther 28.
At first it seemed Portal had averted disaster again when Jenkins County quarterback Alroy Parham was intercepted by Devonta Brown at the one yard line on the first play of the drive, but the next play Charlie Drummer was dropped in the endzone on a blitz by Robert Coney to make it a 28-16 game.
Jenkins returned the free kick back to the Portal 18, where Traune Kelcy would help gain 16 of the necessary yards and the touchdown to make it a one score game. Following a Portal three-and-out, Jenkins would get the ball back with 6:38 left and drive down to the Portal 42 after Coney converted a 4th-and-4.
The next play Coney would take a pitch down the sideline untouched to score the tying touchdown, then follow it up by punching in the two-point conversion to put the Eagles up 30-28 with 3:12 left and leave Portal stunned.
“We were basically playing with 16 kids and when the cramping started we just had to survive,” Smith said. “They played very hard tonight, but you need to execute in those crunch time moments to win games like that.”
Portal’s offense had slowed to a crawl by way of thinning numbers and cramps by the start of the fourth quarter. The Panthers offensive looked seemingly unstoppable in the second quarter after Craig Ware had scored three touchdowns on consecutive drives. Between the three drive Ware gained 46 yards on just seven touches to score his points.
But according to Jenkins County head coach Charlie Waters, it was a new defense he installed over halftime that made the difference in shutting down the Panther running attack in the second half. The Panthers didn’t convert a single first down on their three drives in the fourth quarter and receivers that were open in the first three quarters for QB Fischer Oglesby disappeared.
“When both my linebackers went down and they really started running it on us I didn’t have much of a choice,” Waters said. “Give credit to Portal they were giving it to us in the first half. At the end of the night it was a typical Portal-Jenkins County game. The records never matter, it’s always going to be close.”
The game was not an aesthetically pleasing one by any means. The two sides combined for 24 penalties totaling over 175 yards, though 21 of those penalties came in the first half. Jenkins County lost a couple of key players early in guys like Cameron Brady, which also helped spur Portal to an early lead.
This is the second time this season Portal has led a game in the third quarter and lost — the first coming in the opener against Treutlen County when the Panthers led 15-14 and lost 28-18.
Portal (0-3, 0-0) will look to regroup with a full week of preparation when they host Wheeler County (3-2, 0-2) who’re fresh off a 41-14 win over Glascock County Friday night.