Football can be a fickle game sometimes.

A bounce of the ball can result in a key turnover or a missed opportunity. A missed tackle often results in a big play. A huge defensive stop can be followed immediately by a backbreaking touchdown. Leads that seem safe one minute evaporate the next.

The Porters Chapel Eagles found all of these lessons out the hard way Friday night against Riverfield. They squandered a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, missed several chances to put the game away down the stretch, had a potential game-winning field goal blocked in overtime, and lost 19-16. And now, they must regroup and find a way to beat Adams County Christian School 10 days from now, or else their dreams of a third straight playoff appearance will disappear as quickly as their lead did on Friday.

Riverfield clinched the District 4-AA championship with its win, making the Oct. 20 showdown between PCA and ACCS a battle for the district’s second and final playoff spot.

&#8220It’s a do-or-die thing. Either we get it done or we’ve got no chance of winning,” said PCA’s Michael Busby, who caught five passes for 73 yards and a touchdown, intercepted a pass, and went 3-for-5 on field goal attempts against Riverfield.

Halftime has been the Eagles’ nemesis lately. In three of their last four games they’ve squandered leads at the break. PCA managed to pull out a win over Glenbrook, but lost to Huntington and Riverfield.

Friday’s meltdown seemed to come out of the blue. PCA led 10-0 heading into the fourth quarter and limited the Raiders to two offensive snaps in PCA territory in the first three periods. Things started to go wrong late in the third, though, when Busby missed a 37-yard field goal that would have made it 13-0.

On the fourth play of the final period, Riverfield quarterback James Doughty fumbled the ball on a quarterback draw but was able to recover. On the next play, receiver Jared King took a handoff on a reverse and was hit in the backfield by PCA linebacker Hayden Hales.

King escaped the tackle – and a 10-yard loss – and turned it into a 14-yard gain. Then, on the following play, he hauled in a 23-yard touchdown pass from Doughty to cut the deficit to 10-7.

PCA drove to the Riverfield 36-yard line before turning it over on downs on its next possession. Three pre-snap penalties short-circuited the drive.

The Raiders converted two fourth-and-longs on the following drive, including a 32-yard touchdown pass from Doughty to King on fourth-and-24, to take a 13-10 lead with 53 seconds left in the game.

&#8220We started the third quarter good, and the fourth quarter we fell apart,” Busby said. &#8220We definitely had chances, and we didn’t put it away when we had the chance.”

The Eagles did show some grit, though, and responded with a game-tying drive. Busby returned a short kickoff to his own 46-yard line, a scramble by Hales and a short pass to Cole Smith moved the ball to the Riverfield 40, and Hales connected with Busby for a 27-yard gain to the 13-yard line with 7 seconds left.

Busby then booted a 30-yard field goal to send the game to overtime, and Riverfield missed a field goal on its possession in the extra period.

That left it wide open for PCA to come along and steal a win. After two runs went nowhere, PCA coach Randy Wright sent Busby and the field goal unit onto the field on third down. The snap was low, but not low enough to fall on and try again, and Riverfield was able to block the 29-yard attempt. That left it tied at 13 and sent it to a second overtime.

Busby kicked his third field goal of the game on PCA’s possession, but Doughty hooked up with King for a 9-yard gain on Riverfield’s first play, then scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak to give the Raiders a 19-16 win and their first district title since 1996.

It also left PCA with a lot of regrets.

&#8220We had some opportunities and didn’t cash in on them. You’ve got to give Riverfield a lot of credit,” Wright said. &#8220We had our opportunities and a lot of chances to put it away and didn’t get it done.”