After four brutal weeks of football, the Porters Chapel Eagles are battered and bruised. And now, they’re also behind the 8-ball.

Anthony Dildine rushed for 248 yards and three touchdowns, quarterback Cody Grogan threw two touchdown passes, and University Christian steamrolled PCA 49-14 Friday night in a key District 5-A game.

The big win put University Christian (4-1, 2-0) in the driver’s seat to earn one of the district’s two playoff berths and seriously jeopardized PCA’s chances of earning a sixth consecutive trip to the postseason. PCA (2-3, 1-1) must now win its last two district games, at Russell Christian on Oct. 2 and at home against Newton Academy in the season finale on Oct. 30, to reach the playoffs.

PCA has already been credited with a forfeit win over Veritas, which switched from 11-man to 8-man football before the season.

“The season ain’t over, but that put a big damper on the season. It’s always bad to lose a big district game like that,” said tight end Reed Gordon, who caught two passes for 16 yards. “The only thing we can do is work hard in     practice, give it our all on Friday night and pray for no more injuries.”

PCA, which has had nearly every member of its roster nicked up in the first four games, got another scare on Friday. Lineman Caze Brewer suffered an apparent head injury while diving after a fumble late in the third quarter. Brewer was taken off the field on a stretcher. PCA board member Dr. Calvin Masterson, who examined Brewer on the field, said Brewer had feeling in all of his extremities and was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

By the time Brewer left, the game had been decided. University Christian scored four touchdowns on its first six offensive plays, then added another on its fifth possession to take a 35-14 lead into halftime. Dildine scored on runs of 10, 66 and 39 yards, while Grogan threw a 60-yard TD pass to Dillon Chappell and a 31-yarder to Connor Smith.

University Christian had the ball for just 5 minutes and 5 seconds in the first half, yet racked up 283 yards of offense.

Dildine had 146 yards on nine carries in the first two quarters.

“It was good blocking and good coaching. They realized where they were lining up and we attacked them,” Dildine said.

PCA did move the ball when it had it, but hurt itself with five turnovers and a fumbled snap on fourth down. Kruz Federick ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns, and PCA had 177 yards of offense in the first half. Three first-half interceptions, three second-half fumbles, and no tackling in the first quarter derailed its effort, though.

The Eagles’ last gasp came in the third quarter. Trailing 35-14, they recovered a Dildine fumble at their own 7-yard line. Three runs moved it to the 17, where they faced a fourth-and-inches.

Quarterback Colby Rushing tried to use a hard count to draw the defense offsides, but center Matthew Warren snapped the ball before Rushing’s hands were under him. Rushing recovered the fumble, but the turnover on downs set up a 1-yard TD run by Tucker Bailey that made it 42-14.

“Just not a good one. You have good games and bad games. Nothing’s falling right for us right now,” Federick said. “It’s just mental mistakes.

“We’re still a pretty young team. We’ve got a lot of new starters. It’s really just playing together, growing together and being football smart.”

PCA gets another tough test when the Eagles host Trinity next week at 7 p.m.

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com