Randy Wright sits in his office, phone in hand, and dials the numbers of a half-dozen schools. It’s still a month away from the start of football two-a-days and two months from the start of football season, but the Porters Chapel Academy coach isn’t sure exactly what his 2005 schedule will be.

There are currently 10 games on it, the first Aug. 19 against Wilkinson County Christian. With one opponent already booted out of the Mississippi Private Schools Association, however, several others rumored to be low on players, and another under new management, Wright has been scrambling to double check the games he already has set up and draw up contingency plans in case others fall through.

“We’re just trying to make sure we’re going to have 10 games,” Wright said. “We’re real excited about the upcoming season, and we’re having to call around and make sure.”

PCA’s scheduling troubles actually began last fall, when Grawood Christian School’s athletic program was suspended for an on-field incident. The school was eventually expelled from- the MPSA, creating a gaping hole in several teams’ football schedules. Later, Plain Dealing – which was in the same district as Grawood – also left the MPSA.

The MPSA sets its schedules on a two-year basis. The 2005 schedule is the same as 2004, just with home and away games reversed. The situation with Grawood and Plain Dealing left PCA with an open date on Oct. 7, and the four schools remaining in District 8-A suddenly had two slots to fill.

“When Grawood had all their problems, it screwed up all these teams and gave them bye weeks. Nobody wants to have bye weeks in football,” Wright said.

The District 8-A teams have teamed with some of the others affected by the departure of Grawood and Plain Dealing to help each other. Wright filled the open date with University Christian Prep out of Shreveport, La., for example.

“It worked out pretty good for us, with being able to pick up one of the teams in that district,” Wright said. “Most of the time it’s pretty tough to find somebody to play.”

The same could be said of several smaller schools on PCA’s schedule, although the reference would be to the number of players and not the amount of games they play.

Union, Rebul, CM&I, Tensas and Sharkey-Issaquena have frequently fielded teams with less than 20 players in recent years. Rebul canceled its conference schedule in 2002 when it barely had enough players for a full team, and only had 16 players on the preseason roster last season.

Rebul figures to have enough players this year, but Union is rumored to be in trouble this time. While most schools eventually end up fielding teams by the time school starts, all of the uncertainty leaves their opponents drawing up contingency plans in case those games are canceled.

Wright said he has talked with coaches from Riverdale – another District 8-A school left in the lurch – and was calling around this week to confirm other games rumored to be in trouble.

It’s an unusual situation, he said.

“We went from being in such a big district like we were in two years ago to being in a much smaller district, and it’s much different than we’re used to,” Wright said, adding he was glad to hear Rebul had seemingly solved its numbers crisis for now. “They’re a district opponent for us, and we’re glad they’re going to have plenty of kids. We don’t want to have any bye weeks. We want to play every week.”