This wasn’t the way Chris Mixon and Kenny Simms wanted to get to Mississippi College for a football game.

The two Porters Chapel Academy stars were supposed to be here with their teammates, battling for an Academy-A state championship. That dream ended with a crushing 20-13 loss to Lee Academy (Ark.) in the North State title game, but Mixon and Simms still earned a trip to Clinton.

The two PCA seniors will suit up for the North squad in the MPSA All-Star game tonight at Mississippi College in Clinton. The game, played at MC, will begin at 6 p.m. They will be joined on the North by Sharkey-Issaquena lineman Matt Prine.

Central Hinds’ Preston Eldridge and Tim May, Tensas Academy’s Cody Hill, and Briarfield’s Joseph Hopkins will suit up for the South.

&#8220It’s one last game to go down there and show everybody what you’ve got. Maybe get some scouts looking at you,” said Mixon, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound running back and linebacker who has drawn the interest of a half-dozen colleges.

Mixon shined as a running back this season, rushing for 1,502 yards and 20 touchdowns despite being limited by a few minor injuries, PCA’s success and the forces of nature.

The Eagles finished the year with an 11-1 record – the best in school history – and blew out most teams by halftime. With his team holding big leads, PCA coach Randy Wright often pulled his star back well before the end of the game.

Mixon also sat out the Eagles’ final regular-season game against CM&I because of a hip pointer, and the team had two other contests canceled. One was a forfeit against Rebul, the other was canceled by Union Academy in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Mixon’s individual success wasn’t a substitute for a state title, though.

&#8220I’m still sick to my stomach. It’s still soaking in. It’s what we’ve been working for two years. It’s why I came over here,” Mixon said. &#8220I still wanted that state championship. I wanted that more than anything.”

So did Simms, who was intentionally held back a grade in junior high so he’d be able to play an extra year of high school football. He was on the varsity team for four years, and developed into a jack-of-all-trades for the Eagles as well as a team leader.

Simms was Mixon’s backup at running back, and amassed 640 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground. He played defensive end, and totaled 103 tackles and seven sacks. And he also showed blazing speed as a kick returner, bringing back two kicks for touchdowns this season.

&#8220You have to be an athlete. In single-A, you never come off the field. Back in two-a-days, you have to be in shape and prepare your body to never come out of the game,” said Simms, who stands only 5-foot-9 and 165 pounds.

Because of Simms’ speed, he was originally put in the secondary. After he was torched in the 2004 season-opener, however, he was moved to defensive end and flourished. In the last two seasons, Simms has amassed 186 tackles and 16 sacks, and he anchored a PCA defense that allowed only 30 points this season – 20 of them in the loss to Lee.

&#8220It was a lot easier,” Simms said in comparing his spot at end to playing in the secondary.

When he’s not hunting down QBs, Simms is busy with plenty of other pursuits. He holds a state powerlifting record for his age and weight class, and last summer he and a teammate put on a youth football clinic as a summer job. Before he started playing football, Simms earned a black belt in Taekwondo.

Simms is also a student leader at Bowmar Baptist Church, and plans to go into the ministry after he graduates from PCA in May.

&#8220He’s a role model for me. He’s somebody for me to look up to,” said Simms’ younger brother Robbie, a defensive back for PCA who led the team with four interceptions this season.

While the all-star game will be Kenny Simms’ first at Mississippi College, there’s a chance it won’t be his last. Simms said he’s looking for a Christian college where he can play football at the same time he’s beginning the next phase of his life in the seminary.

MC was one of the schools he said has shown interest, along with Southwest Baptist in Missouri. When he looks back at his high school career and the opportunities football has given him, Simms said he wouldn’t change anything.

&#8220Winning district championships and seeing the guys, it all works out,” he said. &#8220Inevitably, I don’t regret it one bit.”