[10/05/01]Every time Porters Chapel Academy has needed a win this season, the schedule has been on its side. Games against first-year team Presbyterian Christian and a struggling Union squad have followed previous losses.

With tonight’s homecoming game against 0-5 Pine Hills, it would appear that is the case again. But PCA coach Bubba Mims isn’t so sure.

“They’re 0-5, but they’ve played some good teams. They’ve looked good to me. I think their record is deceiving, because they’ve got some pretty good athletes,” Mims said.

Aware that he might be poor-mouthing his Eagles (3-3, 0-2 Conference 7-A), who dropped a pair of conference losses the last two weeks, Mims insisted that he wasn’t.

“I know that sounds bad, when you look and see that they’re 0-5. But I’ve watched two films on them, and they look good. Probably the best 0-5 team I’ve ever seen,” Mims said. “If I had that good a team, I would say that. And if Pine Hills had that bad a team, I would say that, too.”

Mims’ reluctance to declare tonight’s game an easy one is understandable. The Eagles were outscored 80-15 in the last two losses, and have been plagued by turnovers and inconsistent play all season. Their starting quarterback this week, Andrew Embry, is their third this season. Embry also started last week’s game against Briarfield.

The three quarterbacks have combined for 567 yards and five touchdowns, but have also thrown 12 interceptions six more than Warren County’s other three starting quarterbacks combined.

“We’ve got potential. We can score any minute. If we can go out there and keep the turnovers from happening, we can have a good game,” Mims said. “We have a good team. I know we haven’t shown it yet, but we do.”

The Eagles still feel like they’re good enough to make the playoffs, despite the 0-2 conference record. To have any chance of qualifying as a wild-card, PCA would have to win the rest of its games.

It won’t be easy. PCA has games against Tallulah and CM&I both 1-4 remaining, but must also play Tensas and Brookhaven, both of which are undefeated.

“We’re still trying to go to the playoffs,” Embry said. “You don’t play … just to do something, you go out and play to win. We’re trying to win.”

Mims agreed. He noted that Tallulah and Tensas are both conference opponents, so winning out could still land them in the playoffs as the No. 2 seed from Conference 7-A.

“We’ve still got two district games left, so as far as I’m concerned anything can happen. We win our next two district games, we’re 2-2. That could be good for a wild-card spot, at least,” he said. “We’re going to stay upbeat. We’re going to go out positive and expect to win and get back to 3-3. I don’t think anybody expected a 10-0 season. But we have a lot of teams to play yet.”