Last spring, Randy Wright looked over Porters Chapel Academy’s 2005 football schedule and was concerned about what he saw.

Several opponents that had traditionally fielded small teams were rumored to be on the brink again. So Wright, PCA’s head coach, started making phone calls and drawing up contingency plans in case one or more games fell through.

As it turns out, it was a smart move.

Rebul Academy, PCA’s scheduled opponent for this week, forfeited the game on Monday because it does not have enough players to field a full team. Rebul had several players injured in a 50-8 loss to Kemper on Friday, forcing it to stop that game early, as well.

Wright hastily arranged a replacement opponent, Riverdale, which PCA will play on the road on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Riverdale (2-3), a school located nearly three hours from Vicksburg in East Point, La., had an open date after two teams in its district, Grawood and Plain Dealing, were kicked out of the Mississippi Private Schools Association last spring. Riverdale had scheduled another opponent for a Thursday game this week, but it also fell through. Wright said Riverdale coach Gerald McKenzie wanted to keep the Thursday date.

“This is a game that, back in the spring, Coach McKenzie and I had talked about playing if Rebul didn’t have a team, and it has come to fruition,” said Wright, whose team improved to 4-0 with the forfeit (1-0 in District 4-A) and now has the rare opportunity to get two wins in one week. “It came in handy knowing I could pick up the phone and get a game.”

While some coaches would welcome a bye week before an important district game – PCA will play Sharkey-Issaquena on Sept. 30 – Wright and the Eagles have had way too many of those lately.

PCA’s game with CM&I on Sept. 2 was postponed because of Hurricane Katrina. A week later, Union forfeited its game against the Eagles because the Georgetown school didn’t have power, water or gas restored.

The Eagles did play last week, and showed plenty of rustiness in a 30-3 win over Tensas Academy. Wright said playing this week, no matter what day it was on, was crucial to getting his team back in shape before hitting the final stretch of the season.

“We’ll do what we have to do to get ready. We’re just thankful to Riverdale, because this is the sixth week of the season and we’ve only played three games,” Wright said. “This has been very frustrating scheduling-wise. But hopefully this will be the last obstacle and the rest will take care of itself.”