Porters Chapel needed to rediscover its offensive identity at non-district foe Sylva-Bay before two upcoming critical district games.

Mission accomplished.

Running back Kawayne Gaston rushed for a season-high 227 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns and Jonah Masterson threw a pair of TD passes to Alton Burden and Peter Harris to lead PCA to a 37-26 win over Sylva-Bay on Friday.

“We’ve wanted our team to be peaking at the right time,” PCA coach Wade Patrick said. “We’ve struggled in the past two weeks with our offensive rhythm, but this was a big confidence boost proving that we could move the ball and have a great balance running and throwing.”

The Eagles (5-3) didn’t find that offensive production until the second half, after driving down into the red zone three times and coming

away with a Dewayne Russell field goal for a 3-0 halftime lead.

But the slumbering PCA offense went to a new look with an unbalanced line and the points started to pile up.

Masterson was an efficient 6-of-10 passing for 123 yards, hitting Harris for a 50-yard TD hookup and finding Burden for a 19-yard connection. Burden had his second kickoff return for a touchdown this season in the second half.

Defensively, the Eagles got the stops when they needed them against Sylva-Bay (1-7). Richie Bufkin had 14 tackles, while middle linebacker Jacob Smithey added 12 stops. Talbot Buys had seven tackles and two sacks.

“This win was exactly what we needed,” Patrick said. “I think we can build off this.”