[10/08/02]It took less than 15 minutes for Porters Chapel Academy’s season to be turned on its ear.

Two fourth-quarter turnovers and a stretch of six straight incomplete passes killed three drives Friday night against Briarfield, leading to a 28-13 defeat.

The loss put PCA in fourth place in Conference 5-A and left the Eagles needing to win their final three games to have any chance at their first playoff berth since 1998.

Three PCA wins could put them in second place in the conference if Tallulah slips up, or it might earn the Eagles a wild-card berth.

“We’re not out of it by no means. It’s just two district losses. We win the rest of them, we’re 7-3 with two district losses,” said PCA coach Bubba Mims, whose team fell to 4-3, and 2-2 in the conference. “There’s still a lot that can happen. We’re going to take it one at a time.”

They’ll likely have to take it, however, without their biggest offensive weapon.

Tailback Wesley Purvis, who has rushed for 867 yards and 10 touchdowns this season and also scored 13 total touchdowns suffered two knee injuries in the loss to Briarfield.

He returned from the first injury, a sprain in the first half, but was limited to mainly receiving duties in the third quarter. He finally carried the ball again in the fourth quarter, but a Briarfield defender rolled over his leg while making the tackle.

“He rolled on it and I felt it pop. I knew it was gone,” Purvis said.

Purvis was to have an MRI Monday to determine the extent of the injury, but trainers believed it was a torn anterior cruciate ligament. If their diagnosis is correct, Purvis’ senior season is over.

Backup tailback Kenny Sims, a freshman who has 139 yards on 25 carries this season, will likely assume the bulk of the running duties. Sims gained 14 yards on four carries against Briarfield, but is nowhere near the all-around threat that Purvis is. Few players are, Mims said.

“Let me turn that around and ask you that question. It’s obvious,” Mims said when asked how hard it would be to replace Purvis. “Anytime you lose a guy who has about 1,400 total yards, it’s a great threat. Plus, he’s a good defensive player too.”

While PCA is reeling heading into the homestretch, Briarfield and Tallulah Academy are cruising.

Briarfield (7-0, 4-0), which has wins over PCA and Humphreys (5-2, 3-1), two of the four teams chasing after the two automatic playoff spots from Conference 5-A, has all but wrapped up a playoff spot.

Briarfield has conference games remaining against Sharkey-Issaquena and Tallulah, a season-ender on Oct. 25 that will likely decide the conference championship.

“We’ve still got two left. That definitely was a big one for us, but we’ve still got two left,” Briarfield coach Jay Murphree cautioned. “It still doesn’t mean anything yet. We’re sitting in a good position, but we’re still not in.”

The Rebels have not only been winning, but dominating despite having a target on their back as one of only three unbeaten teams in Academy-A.

Briarfield has allowed 34 points this season with four shutouts. PCA was the first Academy-A team to score more than one TD against the Rebels.

“Everybody’s gunning for us. We try to have every practice at the next level, and on Friday nights we take it to them,” said Briarfield running back Eric Spiller, who notched his fourth straight 100-yard game with a 108-yard effort against PCA. “It’s hard to get up for game after game, but somehow we do it.”

Tallulah has also done it this season, although the Trojans’ biggest tests still lie ahead. Although they are 6-1, and tied with Briarfield for first place in the conference with a 4-0 record after beating Greenville Christian 21-0 on Friday, the Trojans can help themselves or hurt themselves the most out of the four teams over the last three weeks of the season.

Tallulah will go out of conference to face Claiborne this week, then finish at Humphreys and at home against Briarfield.

Two wins in the last two games would give Tallulah the conference title, regardless of what the other teams do. Two losses, however, could leave them at home when the playoffs start on Nov. 1.

“We couldn’t ask to be in a better spot, but we have to continue to improve and try and finish up on the positive side,” Tallulah coach Jacky Thames said. “It’s going to be some good football these last two weeks.”