Jake Arias was on the sideline Friday night, catching his breath after a defensive series, when he got the call he never really expected — or particularly wanted — to hear.

Porter’s Chapel Academy’s starting quarterback, Tristan Pickering, had injured his ankle while scrambling late in the first quarter against Claiborne Christian. Arias, the backup, was about to be pressed into emergency duty at a position he’d competed for in the preseason but had only taken one snap at in six regular-season games.

“The jitters were just overwhelming,” Arias said with a grin. “I played linebacker all this year. I practiced quarterback just in case of a situation like this, but I can’t lie. The jitters were just there. I couldn’t have done it without my teammates, and I thank them for supporting me in a tough position like that.”

Arias returned the support by putting the Eagles on his back when it mattered most.
Early in the fourth quarter, at his normal linebacker position, he blitzed and sacked Claiborne’s quarterback to end a drive.

In the third quarter, while playing quarterback, he ran 18 yards on a third-and-5 to move the ball inside Claiborne’s 10-yard line and set up the Eagles’ first touchdown of the game.

On the game’s final drive, he completed a 10-yard pass to Brayden Ray to convert a fourth down with less than three minutes to go. He then carried the ball himself four consecutive times, for gains of 10, 9, 14 and 1 yard to move it to the Claiborne 15-yard line.

Carter White followed with a 14-yard run to the 1-yard line and Ray punched it in with four seconds left to give PCA a 13-9 victory that kept its MAIS Class AAA wild card playoff hopes alive.

Although he didn’t get to finish the game-winning drive himself, there was little doubt who the hero of the night was for the Eagles.

“Jake Arias … man, I can’t say enough about that. He literally put the team on his back and he carried us down the field. He got us in field goal range with enough time that we were able to give the ball to somebody else,” PCA coach Blake Purvis said. “Carter made a phenomenal run and got out of bounds and gave us a chance with one timeout to try to score instead of kick the field goal. The way our guys responded on that last drive, they were all tired. We had more guys going both ways than we had all year, and they just played through it. I don’t know what to say.”

PCA’s playcalling, which already was heavily geared toward the run, was even more so with Arias behind center. The Eagles ran the ball 54 times and only threw it three. Arias threw more passes in the minute he had to warm up on the sideline following Pickering’s injury than he did in the last 36 minutes of game time.

“I feel as comfortable with Jake with most of the throwing as with Tristan,” Purvis said. “With him having a week of practice this week, we should have most of the offensive playbook. We had to trim it down (against Claiborne) because there’s a bunch of timing stuff where Tristan had had the reps and Jake hadn’t. As far as knowledge of the playbook, Jake has it. It’s just getting him some reps and getting the timing down.”

Arias threw into the end zone incomplete on his first play of the game, a fourth-and-9 from the Claiborne 36, and had another fourth-down pass dropped by a receiver in the fourth quarter. His final attempt was a rollout to the right, where he hit Ray dragging across the middle for a first down with PCA trailing 9-7 with less than three minutes to go.

“Huge, huge play there at the end. Without that fourth down conversion, this game is over,” Purvis said.

Then Arias took over with his feet, collecting 34 of his 60 rushing yards on the next four plays to set up the winning touchdown.

PCA finished the game with 254 rushing yards, including 169 in the second half as they overcame a 9-0 deficit to win. Arias carried the ball six times for 53 yards in the second half.

Arias’ only previous playing time at quarterback came in a 39-21 loss at Riverfield on Aug. 25, when Pickering had to leave the game for one play because of a minor injury.

“It’s super impressive. Jake’s taken one snap at quarterback all year. So for him to come in, not having practice reps or game reps, and to run the offense the way we did without having to close our playbook down much was impressive,” Purvis said. “He’s a smart kid. He’s got a lot of heart. I just can’t say enough about what he did.”

Now the question becomes whether or not he’ll have to do it again. Pickering was still on crutches early this week and his status is questionable for Friday’s District 3-AAA game at Central Hinds.

It’s a big game for PCA (4-3, 1-2 District 3-AAA), which cannot win the district championship but is still very much alive for a wild card berth in the Class AAA playoffs. It’s also a critical game for Central Hinds (4-3, 2-1), which needs a win to keep its own title and playoff hopes alive.

Central Hinds can put itself in a position to win the district title with wins over PCA this week and Park Place next week, plus a St. Aloysius win over current frontrunner Riverfield in the season finale Oct. 20.

Riverfield beat Central Hinds 12-3 on Sept. 22, but Central Hinds’ 30-7 win over St. Al on Sept. 1 would give it the advantage in a three-way tiebreaker between the teams. Central Hinds has won four of its last five games.

“I see Central Hinds as being in a very similar position as us in the playoff picture. Both of us really need this game,” Purvis said. “It’s a seeding game for either one of us. The winner obviously puts themselves in a better position. The loser has to really scratch in in the last two weeks to get in.”

PCA is coming into this game banged up. Pickering was one of four starters who left the Claiborne game due to injury. Defensive back Cameron Harvey broke his ankle and is out for the season.

If Pickering can’t play against Central Hinds, Arias will likely have to play on both offense and defense. If that’s the case, Arias said, he’ll take on the challenge.

“Somebody’s got to do it,” he said. “If that’s me, I’ll do it.”