Many Portal football campaigns have been highlighted by a midseason rivalry win — sometimes as a big underdog — over cross-county rival ECI. Portal threw a few punches last week, but couldn't keep up with a high-powered Bulldog squad in a 41-14 defeat.

It was a familiar story for the Panthers (2-5), who have had strong starts this season that haven't lasted to the final whistle.

"ECI is a good team and they earned that win," Portal coach Jason McEachin said. "We didn't get it done, but there were chances. We had two drives we couldn't finish while the game was close.

"We keep telling our guys that the good plays are there on film to see. The challenge is to keep working until we can put four full quarters of those good plays together."

Now sitting at 2-5 on the season, many of the goal

See Full Page