[10/30/04]After Allen Cassell caught a touchdown pass for Porters Chapel with three seconds to go, the scoreboard read 28-26 in favor of the Eagles.

Like everything else, the malfunction was a beacon of false hope on a night when little went right for PCA.

Landon Bullard threw for 172 yards and a touchdown on 17-of-26 passing, and ran for 113 yards and two TDs as Lee (Ark.) Academy, spoiled the first home playoff game in PCA history with a 26-20 victory.

The loss ended the season for PCA (9-2), which had won nine straight after dropping its season-opener.

“We call it a failure,” said PCA quarterback Michael Busby, who was 8-of-19 passing for 112 yards and two touchdowns. “We were always going for state. We came up a little short.”

The Cougars (9-2) totaled 429 yards of offense and controlled the clock for 30 minutes with a no-huddle, spread attack that was heavy on draws and short passes.

They were also helped by a sputtering Eagles team that committed seven penalties for 50 yards, dropped two potential touchdown passes, and allowed Lee to rally from an early 13-0 deficit.

“Lee played a great game, and I don’t want to take anything away from them,” PCA coach Randy Wright said. “We just couldn’t ever seem to make a big play tonight, and kind of shot ourselves in the foot a couple times. It was a tough night for us.”

Chris Mixon returned the opening kickoff 76 yards for a touchdown and Gerald Mims scored on a 43-yard pass from Michael Busby to put PCA ahead 13-0 with 9:48 to play in the first half.

After two early trips inside the red zone ended in a fumble and a turnover on downs for Lee, the Cougars finally put it together on the ensuing drive.

Bullard completed five passes as Lee alternated between shotgun draws and short throws on a 68-yard scoring drive. Bullard capped it with a 10-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-one play, spinning out of the pile before running into the end zone untouched to cut it to 13-7.

After a quick three-and-out by PCA and a shanked punt, Bullard led another drive to give the Cougars the lead for good. He connected with Daniel Parten on a 7-yard TD toss to put Lee ahead 14-13 with 1:43 to play in the half.

“They covered everything we had. Our guys just kept fighting, kept moving, and we just kept running over them,” Bullard said.

PCA never was able to get the machine rolling in the second half.

Twice, first-down runs were negated by holding penalties. Late in the third quarter, Mixon had the ball punched out by a Lee defender, and right into the arms of the Cougars’ Nathan Waldrip. The turnover led to another touchdown run by Bullard, this time from 8 yards out to give Lee a 20-13 lead with 1:21 remaining in the third quarter.

In all, PCA went three-and-out on three of its five second-half possessions, and managed one first down on another. On the last failed possession, Mixon dropped a long pass on third-and-20 that would have given the Eagles a first down and possibly a touchdown.

“He could have led me a little farther, but other than that it should have been a caught pass,” said Mixon, who ran for 58 yards and caught three passes for 21 yards. “I couldn’t slow down because the man was right behind me, and the pass was a little behind me.”

After Mixon’s drop, the Eagles punted and Lee put the game away with a 10-play, 65-yard drive. Waldrip finished it with a 1-yard run to make it 26-13.

PCA rallied for a late score on Cassell’s 16-yard TD reception, but it was too late. Only three seconds remained, and Lee recovered an onside kick to end the game.