[10/22/04]Three months ago, when two-a-day practices began on a sweltering July morning, Randy Wright sized up his Porters Chapel Academy team. He saw its potential, looked over the schedule and circled Oct. 22 on his calendar.

On that day today he figured the Eagles would be playing Tri-County for one of two things: A playoff berth or the first outright district championship in school history. Sure, there were other games to prepare for and play, and there were one or two speedbumps in the road. But at the end, he was confident PCA would be there.

And over the course of the last three months Wright has prepared as much as a human being can. He attended two Tri-County games in person. He watched four more on film. He drilled what he saw and knew into his players’ heads, to the point they can recognize the Rebels’ plays almost as soon as they break the huddle.

Three months of preparation. Ten weeks of hard work, to make sure the Eagles were in a position to put it to use. It all comes to a head tonight in Flora, when PCA faces Tri-County for the District 4-A title.

“We knew Tri-County would be there. Our goal was to put ourselves in a position to win the district championship, and we’ve been fortunate enough to do that,” Wright said. “I expected to be here, and I wanted to be prepared when we got here. I think we’re prepared, and I can’t wait for Friday night.”

While PCA (8-1, 4-0) will have a big edge in preparation, history is not on their side. The last time PCA won a district championship was 1982, when it finished in a three-way tie with Union and Tri-County. Ironically, PCA won the title that year when Tri-County edged Union in the last week of the season. PCA had beaten Tri-County earlier in the year and won the three-way tiebreaker.

Since then, the Eagles have made one more playoff appearance, in 1998. Tri-County (8-1, 4-0) has been to the postseason 16 times, including six state championship games. It has won two state titles, the last in 1985. The last time it reached the championship game was 2000.

While many PCA players have been in big games on the baseball diamond the school’s baseball team won a state title in 2003 and has been to the state finals three of the last four years playing in a big football game is a new experience.

“This is the first time we’ve ever been in this situation in football,” PCA quarterback Michael Busby said. “It’s totally different from baseball. Everybody expects you to do this in baseball. Nobody expects you to do anything in football. Now that we’re here, it’s a chance to prove everybody wrong.”

If ever a PCA team was built to break a tradition of mediocre football, this seems to be it. This year’s Eagles have the best defense in Class A, allowing just 5.7 points per game.

It will get its stiffest test yet against Tri-County, which is scoring an average of 45.6 points per game also the best in Class A. The Rebels have a 1,000-yard rusher, Drew Posey, and a 1,000-yard passer in John Mark Johnson. Posey has scored 20 touchdowns and Johnson has thrown for 21 all to receivers Joshua Osborne and Benji Campbell.

“We only throw it about 10 times a game, but we have been consistent catching it,” Tri-County coach Bo Milton said.

PCA’s offense has also been stout, although the numbers may not indicate it.

Chris Mixon leads the team with 705 yards rushing and Busby has 570 yards through the air. While the yardage totals aren’t as impressive as Tri-County’s, the Eagles have scored at least 27 points in each of their last seven games.

Most of those have been blowout victories in which Wright had his backups in by the third quarter and a running clock was used throughout the second half. Six different PCA backs have rushed for at least 160 yards this season, and all six have scored at least one touchdown.

“There’s not too many weaknesses. They’re fast, quick and aggressive. They’re a very good football team,” Milton said. “Everybody talks about their defense, but their offense is pretty good too.”