Porters Chapel’s season has been a glass half-full, glass half-empty kind of affair.

On the one hand, the Eagles have shown signs of life over the past month. They’ve gone toe to toe with some of the state’s better teams, and they’re still alive for a playoff berth.

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PCA at Riverfield

On the other hand, they aren’t winning any games.

The Eagles (3-5) have lost four of their last five heading into Friday night’s game at Riverfield (6-2). They dropped a 13-7 decision to Tri-County last week in a game that epitomized their season. PCA allowed an 80-yard touchdown run on the first series, kept a Tri-County drive alive with a roughing the holder penalty, and wasted a scoring opportunity by fumbling at the 1-yard line.

“I thought the way we played, you change those three plays and we win 21-0. That’s how good our kids played against the number five team in the state,” PCA coach Bill Fleming said. “Whenever we play a game where we don’t make mistakes, we’ll win. We’re that close.”

The clock is running out on the Eagles to correct their mistakes. Only three regular season games remain, including a do-or-die district contest on Oct. 30 against Newton Academy that will determine both teams’ playoff fate.

Before then PCA goes on the road to face a Riverfield team that is in first place in District 7-A, then next week hosts a Central Hinds squad that is fighting for a wild-card berth in Class AA.

“It’s going to get our head where it needs to be. We’re just going to have to focus these last couple games,” lineman Caze Brewer said.

Fleming said the Eagles aren’t treating the next two weeks as a warm-up for Newton, but did admit that playing tough teams all season long will help during this stretch run. Only two of PCA’s eight opponents this season has a losing record — including Prairie View, which is 0-8 — and as a whole their opponents have a .613 winning percentage.

The Eagles also seem to be getting healthy at the right time. Their slump over the past month coincided with a rash of injuries that seemed to hit most of the roster. Most of those injured starters have since returned to the lineup.

“All it’s going to do is make us better. Last year, the team that went 13-1 won a couple games big and created a snowball effect. That’s what we’re trying to do,” Fleming said. “There were kids on that team that got in a zone. You don’t hear the yelling, you don’t hear the crowd, you just make plays. It becomes addicting. That’s what we’re waiting on, is somebody to become addicted to making big plays.”

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com