Coming into the season, Jay Wiley was Porters Chapel’s mystery man.

Last season, he was a solid contributor, but not a star for PCA, as he had 141 stops as a linebacker and played a bit role on offense in several positions.

The biggest question is what would he do when handed the baton at running back for the Eagles (1-1).

The answer: plenty.

The senior back has rushed for 306 yards on 37 carries and two touchdowns in two games going into Friday’s game at River Oaks (La.).

A physical runner, the stat that would best describe Wiley’s work is yards after contact. He is near-impossible to arm-tackle and he shows strong leg drive pushing forward for extra yards even with defenders piling atop him. Yet he has plenty of speed to get to the outside and take it to the house. He is averaging a robust 8.3 yards per carry.

“When Jay Wiley is healthy, he’s the real deal,” PCA coach Bill Fleming said. “He’s the toughest dad-gummed boy I’ve ever seen in my whole life. You really can’t describe him.”

During an opening 27-23 loss to Tallulah, Wiley showed how far he has come in such a short time. After he was taunted by a Trojan defender, he made one request of his coach.

“He came up to me and said, ‘Coach, I want the ball now,’” Fleming said. “I said okay. He broke seven tackles on that play. It was the hardest-fought 12 yards I’ve ever seen any human being get. No one could get him down. He twists and turns, but I’ve never seen him fumble.”

What’s even more amazing about Wiley’s work is that he is not in full game shape. He missed the first two weeks of camp thanks to an untimely illness. He had to get eligible again after missing so much class and is just now getting into shape.

Knowing that he wasn’t at full speed, his work has surprised his teammates.

“It’s pretty amazing, to be honest with you,” senior tight end Reed Gordon said. “I had no idea he’d turn out to be such a good running back. He’s blowing everyone’s minds right now. He was the deciding factor against Prairie View.”

The biggest example of his impact may have been on PCA’s final drive, down 33-26 to Prairie View with under a minute remaining. He had just reeled off a big run on a counter play that Fleming admitted that he drew up on the fly.

However, on the Eagles’ final play, Wiley’s mere presence set up PCA’s score on the final drive.

“He ran all over them, so everyone was keying on him,” Gordon said of Wiley’s performance. “He barely moved on that play, everybody jumped to him and that left Kruz (Federick) wide open on that play.”

The Prairie View defense was suckered by the sight of No. 2 and Federick took the dive handoff 26 yards to paydirt and later scored on a two-point conversion to give PCA the 34-33 win.

But Wiley’s contributions aren’t limited to toting the ball. He’s also PCA’s leading tackler and seems to always be near the ball as the focus of the Eagles’ attacking defense.

This season, Wiley leads PCA and Warren County in total tackles with 29. However, it’s on offense where Wiley will carry the load for the Eagles this season.

“With over 300 yards in two games, if he keeps up on this pace, he’s going to run for over 2,000 (yards),” Fleming said. “If he keeps running like this, we’re going to be all right.”

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Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com