PORTAL — Jason McEachin understands the power of belief. However, the Portal High School football coach also knows that some need to see something happen before they will fully buy in.

That’s why he hopes the success of the 2023 Panthers that saw Portal win a region title and a state playoff game can be used as a springboard for the team to another successful season in 2024.

“It’s all possible here. It’s been such a long time since we’ve had success here that a lot of kids may not have thought we could be successful,” McEachin said. “You can preach and teach it, but sometimes it has to happen before a group of young men building a program will believe, and that belief goes a long way toward how kids prepare and believe.”

Last year’s team went 7-3, winning their first-ever region championship with a thrilling 36-34 overtime victory over Jenkins and then earning a first-round playoff win, before falling 14-12 to Telfair County in the second round.

“Now that we’ve been battle tested, we can use those moments to reflect back and say, ‘We’ve been there, we’ve accomplished that,’” McEachin said. “Now, how do we repeat that process?”

Not only have the players had a taste of success, but McEachin said playing and winning those close games will help him as a coach going forward.

“The next time we’re placed in those situations, I can refer back to the experience and know how to handle it,” he said. 

One of the biggest challenges facing the Panthers this season is replacing quarterback Elijah Coleman and wide receiver/defensive back Amir Jackson. Those two, along with Liam Fordham, all signed to play college football this year, with Jackson going to Florida, while Coleman and Fordham are attending Georgia Military College.

“It’s really difficult to put into words what they meant to Portal athletics,” he said. “Just having them in the building as individuals, their willingness to come in and be good people and their great work ethic is going to carry over to those who saw how they conducted themselves.

“They set the stage to continue competitive football at Portal, and because it was done and what they did (last year), our kids saw it done and know that we can do that now here in Portal.”

Replacing that trio is not something McEachin said could be done by any three players.

“You’re not going to replace what they could do individually,” he said. “You replace them with groups of players. You replace the production offensively and defensively and by making plays on special teams with several players.

“There will be plays they made on Friday nights that we can’t duplicate,” McEachin said. “But by being able to play more guys and get more guys involved, we can replace what they did on the whole.”

Offense

The Panthers haven’t settled on a quarterback to start the season as they look to replace Coleman’s more than 1,400 passing yards and 18 touchdowns through the air, along with his 1,009 rushing yards and 16 scores on the ground.

Brian McQueen saw action at quarterback last season, throwing for nearly 300 yards and four touchdowns, and could see time under center again this year. Kobe Burroughs is someone else McEachin said could get time at quarterback. 

Another candidate is Chase Smith, who is the only senior on the Panthers team to have played football for four years.

“He was here when we were 0-10, and he was here for the region championship. He’s got all that under his belt,” McEachin said. “He’s a leader on and off the field. He’s a very intelligent, savvy player. We’re trying to figure out his role, whether that’s at quarterback, running back, h-back or somewhere else. He’s too talented not to play somewhere, and he’s going to make a lot of important plays for us.”

Anchoring the team, McEachin said, would be the offensive and defensive lines, which will be the team’s strength as they head into the season, including juniors Gavin Holloway and Ethan Lewis. 

“I expect them to carry us as we try to figure everything else out early in the season. It may be that we have to play more ball control offense early on until we develop our full identity on offense,” he said.

“We have enough talent to score points on people, but it’s about gelling together as a team,” McEachin said.

One of the receivers that the Panthers can look for is senior Harold Washington, who McEachin singled out for his unselfish play and being a great blocker that will be needed to spring running backs downfield.

Defense and schedule

Defensively, Cooper Motes, Cedrick Williams, Christian Odom and Kwan Coleman are players that will need to have strong seasons for Portal to challenge for the region crown in the revamped 3-A (Division II) region. 

Jenkins, Emanuel County Institute and McIntosh County Academy return, with Bryan County, Metter, Claxton, Savannah High School and Screven County all competing with Portal for the region title.

“It’s a much deeper region now. We went from five schools playing football to nine. It’s just a really good, deep Single A football region,” McEachin said.

With the expanded region and less time before region games start, McEachin said the Panthers will have only one scrimmage instead of two this year as a way to prepare for the season. Doing so, he said, will allow them to focus on their system rather than spending time preparing for an opponent’s scheme.

An early bye week for Portal will also help the coaching staff be able to correct mistakes and further implement their system prior to their first region matchup.

That matchup will be against Jenkins, which is sure to have the attention of the Panthers as they prepare for a rematch of what was essentially a region championship game last season.

“It’s going to be very intense. We’ll have a big crowd right there in Portal, and we’re going to have to be ready to go,” McEachin said. “We need to use all our practices to be as good as we can be as early as we can be.”

Before region play kicks off, Portal will open their season Aug. 17 against Bulloch Academy in the Erk Russell Classic at Paulson Stadium.

“We've got a lot of kids who moved up (to varsity) or will be playing their first varsity game at Paulson Stadium,” McEachin said. “Hopefully we don’t get too caught up in the bright lights and the big stadium.

“Anytime you get to use Georgia Southern’s facilities, especially for high school kids as close to Georgia Southern as we are, with the history of Erk Russell and Paul Johnson, we could not turn down the invitation,” he said. “It’s a really great event.”

2014 Portal football schedule

Aug. 17        Bulloch Academy (at GS)

Aug. 30        at Twiggs County

Sept. 6         Jenkins County

Sept. 13       at Bryan County

Sept. 20       Metter

Sept. 27       Savannah

Oct. 11        ECI

Oct. 1          at Claxton

Oct. 25        Screven County

Nov. 1         McIntosh County Academy