Through four games, it’s becoming clear that Porter’s Chapel Academy’s formula for success is going to be running the football and playing good defense.

Unfortunately, the Eagles ran into another team that did it a little bit better Friday night.

Central Private opened the game with a seven-minute scoring drive, kept PCA’s running game in check, and beat the Eagles 33-6. Central Private put the game away with two defensive touchdowns in the last two minutes to make the final score a little more lopsided than it appeared.

“They controlled the clock and the line of scrimmage, and put up 21 points in the first half,” PCA coach Blake Purvis said. “Our defense played great in the second half. The defense shut them out in the second half. We adapted well and made plays. Offensively, we had some production and we produced some stops. We were trying to play catch up. We were having success running the ball, but didn’t have time to run it, run it, run it.”

Luke Yocum completed 5 of 8 passes for 100 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for PCA. John Michael Wilkerson caught three passes for 85 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
Tyler Washington ran for 47 yards and Carter White 31. Josh Hunt had 14 tackles on defense, while McKinley Skipper, Jake Arias and Cole Pittman had 10 each. Pittman also had two sacks.

PCA (1-3) will next head across town to face St. Aloysius (0-4) in a rivalry game that is important for more than just bragging rights. It’s a District 3-AAA game, and one that both teams desperately need to win to have any chance at salvaging their playoff hopes — or simply to keep it from spiraling downward.

“This game is what it is,” Purvis said. “It’s got all the hype and everything else. But at the end of the day we’ve got to approach it as the next game. We have to prepare better and execute better on Friday night.”