There’s a buzz in the air around Vicksburg this week, as its two private schools St. Aloysius and Porter’s Chapel Academy prepare to play each other for the first time in a regular-season football game.

The sense of novelty and anticipation for a game both sides have speculated about for years is high. A crowd of anywhere from 2,000 and 3,000 fans — two or three times what each school typically draws for a home game — is expected to fill every bit of available space at cozy Eagles Field.

Amidst all of the attention and hype, however, St. Al coach Michael Fields hopes his players remember one thing: This is a really, really important game in District 3-AAA, and not just for local bragging rights. Both teams have one loss already in the district, and any chance of recovering and making a run at the district title will likely disappear if they take another.

“It’s one of those deals where it’s a district game, and we both have one loss and that hypes the rivalry even more,” Fields said. “It’s one of those games where you’d better have a good one because your season is almost riding on it.”

That could be especially true for St. Al, which has struggled out of the gate for the third season in a row.
The Mississippi Association of Independent Schools has a wild card system to fill out its 16-team Class AAA playoff bracket that offers even the worst non-district winners a chance at the playoffs. St. Al rallied from an 0-7 start to make the postseason last year, and Porter’s Chapel got to the Class AA playoffs in 2014 with a 2-8 record.

Even so, every loss pushes the Flashes closer and closer to elimination from the playoff race. They’re currently 0-4 and have only scored 41 points in those four games. They’ve been held to seven points in each of their last two games.

Fields noted that the Flashes have played a difficult schedule in the first month of the season, and was confident they can still turn things around.

“I think if we stick to the course we’re going to be OK. The level of competition raised up and we didn’t raise to get there. We’re not going to panic,” he said. “People don’t look at the competition, they look and see you’re 0-and-whatever. As a coach, you find out it’s not about what others are doing, it’s about what you’re doing. The only way you’re going to get wins is to stick to the course, and sooner or later things are going to turn.”

For the Flashes, the hope is the turn comes this week against a PCA (2-2, 1-1 District 3-AAA) squad that has fluctuated in results from week to week. The Eagles have alternated dominating wins over Columbus Christian and Hillcrest Christian with ugly losses to Riverfield Academy and Central Private.

When PCA has had success, it has usually been by dominating the line of scrimmage and running the football — a couple of things St. Al has had trouble with. St. Al has allowed nearly 1,200 rushing yards in its four games. PCA has run for nearly 600.

“I’m pretty sure he’s going to play smashmouth football and smash us in the mouth. That’s what everybody else is doing to us,” Fields said.

FRIDAY’S AREA GAMES
All games start at 7 p.m.
St. Al at Porter’s Chapel (Radio: 101.3 FM/104.5 FM)
Vicksburg at Columbus (Radio: 1490 AM/107.7 FM)
Tallulah Academy at Prentiss Christian
Sharkey-Issaquena at Humphreys Academy
Briarfield at Rebul Academy
Hillcrest Christian at Central Hinds
Port Gibson at Yazoo City
Delhi at Madison Parish

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