Porters Chapel Academy’s Kenny Simms, right, drags a Wilkinson County Christian player for extra yards during the Eagles’ 13-7 opening game loss on Friday night in Woodville. (Molly DempseyThe Natchez Democrat)

[8/23/04]Randy Wright expected Friday night’s season-opener against Wilkinson County Christian to be one of the toughest games of the year for his Porters Chapel Academy squad.

He got all he bargained for from WCCA, and even more than he could have hoped for from his own team.

PCA struggled mightily in the first half, but turned the tables on the Rams in the last two quarters and nearly pulled off a comeback in the last three minutes. The effort left Wright disappointed with a 13-7 loss, yet happy with the poise shown by the young Eagles.

“We’re young, and we’re learning, and we’re going to make improvements,” said Wright, who was in his first game as head coach after 10 years as an assistant. “That’s a good football team over there. They were so much bigger than us that they were really able to push us around. But we hunkered down, we got in there with those big old hogs and we got after it.”

PCA has three seniors and two returning starters on the roster, and the inexperience showed in the first half. WCCA, which averages nearly 250 pounds per man on the offensive line, manhandled the Eagles and ran for 142 yards.

Rams tailback Ruston Cado led the way, rushing for 92 yards and two touchdowns in the first half as WCCA built a 13-0 lead.

“They just pounded it down our throat in the first half. That’s all you can say about it,” PCA linebacker Gerald Mims said. “We just weren’t ready for them.”

The problems weren’t limited to PCA’s defense, though. The Eagles managed only four first downs and 27 yards of total offense in the first half. They also missed a golden opportunity to put points on the board late in the second quarter.

After a Cado fumble gave PCA the ball at the WCCA 32 with 38 seconds left, sophomore quarterback Michael Busby threw incompletions on first and second down. On third down, he was sacked by linebacker LaValle Johnson and time ran out.

The situation was made worse by the weather. Needing to pass, a steady rain made it nearly impossible for Busby to throw down the field.

“It would have been great if we could have gotten something going right there,” Wright said. “We had trouble offensively with the weather. It really hindered us. It was hard for us to open it up.”

PCA’s defense stiffened in the second half, but its offense continued to struggle.

While the Eagles held the Rams to only 37 rushing yards after halftime, they managed just 35 yards themselves. PCA also fumbled seven times in the second half, losing three.

“It took us the first half to really get in the swing of things and realize what we were up against,” Mims said. “We made some adjustments, and I thought we played great in the second half … We improved a lot, and hopefully we’ll keep improving.

“The good thing is, we can’t go nowhere but up.”