Porters Chapel Academy has spent the last two months making a name for itself.

A perfect 9-0 regular season, the stingiest defense and one of the best offenses in Academy-A, and a No. 3 ranking in the Associated Press’ private schools poll are a testament to the best season in school history.

And none of it will mean much if the Eagles don’t win tonight.

PCA (9-0) starts down what it hopes will be a road to a state championship when it hosts Benton Academy (5-5) in the first round of the Academy-A playoffs. The winner will face either East Holmes or Desoto next week.

&#8220We can prove what we’ve done is not just a flaw. This is one of four games we have left to prove that,” PCA defensive lineman Blake Purvis said.

A victory would give PCA another in a long line of firsts – the first playoff win in school history. The Eagles are 0-3 in three previous trips, in 1982, 1998 and 2004. They lost to Lee, Ark., in the first round last season.

The school’s playoff history and the defeat to Lee, a 26-20 setback in which PCA squandered an early 14-0 lead, has taught the team not to look ahead, coach Randy Wright said.

&#8220We definitely know we have to be ready every week. We learned that the hard way last year,” Wright said. &#8220All our focus is on Benton. We can’t afford to look past Benton. We’re treating this like it’s our last game of the year.”

So is Benton coach Terry King, whose team figures to need its best effort – and one of PCA’s worst – to keep from playing for the last time.

Two weeks ago, Benton beat CM&I 20-14 in overtime. That was the same CM&I team that PCA drubbed 42-0 in last week’s regular-season finale. Benton has also been hammered by injuries, which have taken a half-dozen opening-night starters from the field.

&#8220We’ve had more knee injuries than any program should be allowed to have,” King said, adding that it will take a superior effort by his squad to come out on top tonight. &#8220They’re big and they’re fast. We’ve got to play our best game. That’s a very daunting task for us to take on. We have to play error-free.”

The Raiders may have enough tricks up their sleeves to make a game of it, though. They utilize a number of unusual formations and gadget plays that can go for long gains if they catch PCA napping at the right time.

&#8220We’re very concerned about Benton. They’re a very dangerous team. They have a lot of good skill players,” Wright said. &#8220They run a lot of different formations, they like to spread the field and throw it a lot, they have a lot of speed and we’re going to have to be ready for that.”