A semi-pro football team, the Tri-County Panthers, will play the Hinesville Hurricanes at 7 p.m. Saturday at Portal High School.

The team has about 25 players ages 18 to 33 from Screven, Bulloch and Jenkins counties – some former high school standouts and some working adults who “get that second chance to try to make a career of it,” Assistant Coach Joseph Williams said. Scouts from the Arena League sometimes attend the games, he said.

Screven County Deputy Sheriff Steve Singleton is head coach of the Panthers.

The team is an attempt to resurrect the Sylvania Fury, which started three years ago and made it to the playoffs but had to forfeit because it didn’t have a home field on which to play, Williams said.

On June 6, the Panthers tied the Middle Georgia Pit Bulls 6-6 in Cochran, Ga., in the first game of the season. “It’s just like a college or NFL game – way beyond high school,” he said. Admission is $5.