All the signs, even the ones draped along the Benton Academy sideline, pointed toward a Porters Chapel victory Friday night.

Chris Mixon ran for 229 yards and four touchdowns, three of them in the first half, Michael Busby intercepted two passes, and PCA claimed the first playoff victory in school history, 39-0 over Benton.

The Eagles advance to host East Holmes in the second round of the Academy-A playoffs next Friday at 7 p.m.

&#8220It feels good, but it’s just the beginning. Our goal at the beginning of the year was to win a state championship, and we’re not going to quit until we get there,” said Mixon, who surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the season.

Before the game, Benton’s fans had draped several handmade signs along the fence proclaiming their supposed inferiority to PCA. The signs, which read &#8220We are not worthy,” &#8220Have mercy,” and &#8220The Eagles … a really good team,” were in response to a newspaper article that the Raiders felt belittled their skills. Benton running back Austin Berry said the signs were meant as a joke.

&#8220It was from what y’all wrote in the newspaper, that we’re not good enough to play with this team,” said Berry, who ran for 67 yards on 18 carries. &#8220So we decided to be smart-alecks and say the same thing.”

It didn’t take long for PCA to turn the game into a laugher.

Benton quarterback Shane Ables fumbled the snap on the first play of the game, and PCA’s Sidney Meacham recovered at the Benton 22-yard line. Two plays later, Mixon scored on a 14-yard run for a 7-0 lead.

On their next series, the Raiders tried to go deep with little success. Two long passes fell incomplete before a third was intercepted by Michael Busby at the PCA 22.

Mixon gained 29 yards on the next play, Simms followed with a 39-yard run, and Mixon capped the brief drive with a 10-yard TD that made it 14-0 with 8:29 to play in the first quarter.

Mixon added a 31-yard TD run in the second quarter to make it 21-0, and finished the first half with 142 yards on only 11 carries.

&#8220We wanted to come out and jump on them quickly and take the momentum of the ballgame over to our side,” PCA coach Randy Wright said. &#8220We knew they’d come down fired up and ready to play football, and we wanted to do some things early to spark us.”

The game took an ugly turn after PCA stopped Benton on six plays inside the 5-yard line late in the third quarter.

The teams combined for 11 penalties in the last 15 minutes, including six personal fouls. Venton’s Stuart Morgan and PCA’s Moose Carney were ejected following a third-quarter dustup, and Wright piled on after the game was out of reach.

Leading 31-0, the Eagles kept their first string in after getting the ball back with 4:17 to play in the fourth quarter. Hales threw a long pass to Cole Smith on first down from the PCA 45, and Mixon made it 37-0 with a 14-yard TD run four plays later.

Benton blocked the extra point, but was called for two personal fouls on the play. With the ball inside the 2-yard line, Wright opted to try a two-point conversion, which Mixon ran in to make it 39-0.

&#8220We were just trying to put a statement on the end of this football game to let people know they better look out for the Eagles, because we’re coming,” Wright said. &#8220It just sends a message to everybody, letting them know we’ve got a good football team and we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with.”