[10/4/04]ROLLING FORK As expected, a running back had a big night Friday when Porters Chapel played Sharkey-Issaquena.

It just wasn’t the back most people anticipated.

Porters Chapel’s Chris Mixon, not SIA’s Zack McDaniel, rushed for 230 yards and four touchdowns in the Eagles’ 42-12 win. It was a breakout game for the 6-foot-3, 210-pound junior, who had previously rushed for 396 yards and eight touchdowns.

That was one-third the total of McDaniel, the area’s leading rusher with 1,274 yards and 17 TDs. On Friday, however, Mixon outplayed his injured counterpart. He plowed through the defense, broke tackles and ran away from the secondary moves that were usually displayed by McDaniel.

“I wanted to prove myself,” Mixon said. “I did everything I could. The line blocked wonderful, the backs blocked wonderful, and everything worked out great. We accomplished what our goal was.”

Mixon’s season totals entering Friday’s game were artificially low. PCA has had blowout victories in four of its six wins, and coach Randy Wright has pulled his starters long before the game is over.

PCA also has used a balanced running game, with five backs rushing for at least 100 yards this season. The two factors have combined to limit Mixon to just 60 carries, although he has also caught a team-best 11 passes for 262 yards.

“We’ve known all year long that he had that kind of ability, if we gave him the ball a little more. I hadn’t given him the ball enough,” Wright said. “The kid’s a great running back, and the more we give him the football, the more yards he’s going to pile up.

“With his size and his speed, he’s capable of taking it to the house on every play, and he proved that tonight.”

Against SIA, Mixon was the main man for PCA. He carried 18 times, and broke touchdown runs of 37, 61 and 57 yards, in addition to a short 7-yard burst.

Mixon also caught two passes for 40 yards and had an 86-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that was negated by an illegal block. The penalty occurred as Mixon was covering the last 10 yards into the end zone, and was well away from the play.

“I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Mixon said. “I was mentally ready for this game. I concentrated on it, and that’s what it takes.”

On the other side of the field, McDaniel was having his worst night of the year.

He had been held under 100 yards only once, when he was hurt the previous week against Prairie View. In that game, he rushed for 99 yards on three carries before he was hit in the end zone after an 85-yard touchdown run and suffered a dislocated elbow.

McDaniel suited up and played against PCA, despite two torn ligaments in his elbow. He wore a heavy brace that left deep purple bruises from his wrist to his bicep.

“It hurt every time I got hit and every time I hit the ground. I just knew I had to keep playing. It was on the line, win or go home,” said McDaniel, whose team was eliminated from playoff contention with the loss. “That’s all that was on my mind. I wasn’t feeling hardly any pain. It hurt, but I tried to ignore it.”

McDaniel’s longest run was a 28-yard touchdown in the second quarter. He had just two more runs longer than 10 yards, an 11-yard run three plays before his touchdown, and a 24-yard scamper in the third quarter.

McDaniel finished with a season-low 91 yards and the touchdown on 20 carries.

“Any time you hold a back like that to under 100 yards, you’re doing your job,” Wright said.

McDaniel’s last big run was upstaged by one from Mixon.

Two plays after McDaniel ran to the PCA 23, SIA quarterback Tyler Hankins was sacked by Spencer Carney and fumbled. PCA recovered, and Mixon broke off a 57-yard TD run to put the game away.

Mixon broke several tackles at the line, spun out of another a few yards up the field, and ran away from the defensive backs to put the Eagles ahead 28-12 and send them onto their first playoff berth since 1998.

“We knew we had them. We knew there was no way they could come back,” Mixon said. “But we never stopped. We got tired I was over there puking but we kept playing. We never gave up.”