During the Pyrrhic War, Greek king Pyrrhus of Epirus won the battles of Heraclea and Asculum against the Roman invaders.

In both battles, his troops defeated the Romans, but the loss of soldiers by the Greeks was so egregious that they could scarcely take advantage of their victories.

According to ancient historian Plutarch, Pyrrhus is said to have uttered a simple phrase.

“If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined.”

Hence the term Pyrrhic victory, one in which the cost to the victor is utterly devastating.

Porters Chapel beat Prairie View on Friday 34-33 on Kruz Federick’s two-point conversion following his 26-yard touchdown run with just 25 seconds remaining. It was a stirring win that made up for a heartbreaking 27-23 loss in the Eagles’ opener against Tallulah.

But the victory might prove extremely costly to PCA (1-1) in the future, especially with a trip to River Oaks (La.) in Monroe looming on Friday.

The injured list is filled with key PCA contributors.

Tight end Reed Gordon sustained a sprained medial collateral ligament and a sprained ankle on the first pass thrown to him in the game. Then quarterback/safety Colby Rushing went down with a high ankle sprain and more seriously, John Michael Harris was rushed to the emergency room after a diabetic reaction. Defensive end Zach Rachal, who has been a defensive dynamo suffered a neck stinger and was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

But, said PCA coach Bill Fleming, the prognosis on all are good. He expects all to play against River Oaks.

Fleming also said that he intends to give Montana McDaniel, who returned the second half kickoff 80  yards for a score, some reps at quarterback as well in case Rushing can’t go Friday night. Fleming said that John Michael Harris will play Friday night after leaving the game when he couldn’t stop hyperventilating.

“They took him to Jackson and they asked him at the hospital, ‘why are you here,  you’re fine,” Fleming said. He said that he intends to budget Harris’ reps accordingly and also will likely play Gordon only on offense.

The Class AA Mustangs (1-1) lost to Class AAA foe Washington 24-7, but haven’t had a losing season since 2002.

Speaking of the Prairie View game, Fleming had praise for the way sophomore quarterback Gray Hales engineered the team’s final drive and for Federick’s hard-running, which he believes will become even more dangerous than it was on the final drive.

“They were looking at him (Wiley) the whole time,” Fleming said. “That opened up another weapon. When he (Federick) hits the line, he’s at full speed.”

It was especially tough for Hales after his mistake, an errant pass, went the other way. Patrick Laird returned the pick 2 yards for a touchdown to put Prairie View up 33-26 with under a minute remaining.

With a new quarterback seeing his first varsity action, Fleming went back to the drawing board, literally. He drew up a counter play for Jay Wiley, who has piled up the yards in his first two starts and Wiley took it for a big gainer to set up Federick’s 26-yard touchdown run and winning two-point conversion.

While the Eagles in recent years have been known for being feast or famine, Fleming is aiming for more of a consistent approach, especially with so many vital cogs in his offense dinged up.

With Federick able to get a consistent 3 to 4 yards a carry, expect the Eagles to depend more heavily on him against River Oaks.

“Here, they’ve big-played people to death,” Fleming said. “But if you move the ball 4 yards a play, three times four is 12 yards. That moves the chains. I’ll take that over a low-percentage play in a heartbeat.”

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Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com