Eagles eye first playoff test in Harris era

Javon Harris has been used to success on the football field throughout his career, first as a high school standout at MacArthur and then as a defensive back at the University of Oklahoma.

So, when he was given the job of rebuilding the Eisenhower football program three years ago, he was eager to get busy to recruit players who might not have been playing football before he arrived at Ike, then work with his staff to get the Eagles bigger, stronger and faster during spring drills and Summer Pride workouts.

Results on the field have been slowly improving, however, just when there was hope of becoming a force in Class 5A, the Eagles were bumped to Class 6AII by the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association due to increased student population. While that might normally be a hard blow for a rebuilding program, many state coaches have felt that in recent seasons Class 5A has been just as tough as 6A with powers like Carl Albert dominating with the Titans claiming the gold ball on back-to-back seasons.

Harris has had to keep working to help his young team prepare for the challenges the Eagles faced but while 6AII can be brutal at times, the good news is that six teams from each district make the state playoffs and this year despite being 4-6, Ike is in the playoffs and eager to enjoy the thrill of the second season.

Ike will make sure the Pikepass cards are on the windows of the buses and drive up the H.E. Bailey Turnpike, then the Turner Turnpike to Sapulpa for its first playoff test since 2017 when the Eagles lost in the first round to Altus by a 35-28 score. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

“I think that our tough schedule is what has helped us get those wins that gave us an opportunity to make the playoffs,” Harris said Thursday before hitting the field for practice. “We are battled tested and that gives us optimism moving forward. We preached from the start of practice that we had to work hard and we needed guys to work hard and help us develop depth, which we have accomplished with a large group of underclassmen stepping into important roles.”

Depth was important this fall as the Eagles suffered some injuries that at times took top talent from the lineup including speedster Serrie Sheridan, Ike’s fastest player and its top big-play threat and one of Ike’s top defensive players from his cornerback spot.

The tough schedule Harris talked about was indeed challenging. The Eagles faced city rivals Lawton High and MacArthur and mighty Carl Albert in their non-district contests. After that Ike faced No. 3 Stillwater, Southmoore, No. 7 Putnam City, No. 6 Piedmont, and No. 2 Choctaw, all of which are in the playoffs.

With those tough matchups the Eagles struggled defensively, giving up an average of 38.5 points per game.

“Consistency on defense has been a problem and when you can’t get off the field it wears your guys down,” Harris said. “At times we’d get teams into third-and-long and then either give them a first down with a penalty or big play.

“Those situational parts are critical; when you get a team into those third-and-long situations, somebody has to make a play. We have also struggled with tackling at times but we’ve worked hard the past couple of weeks to make sure our guys are sound when it comes to tackling. We can’t give up chunks of yardage when we let somebody break a tackle on us.”

Offensively the Eagles have had similar issues when it comes to consistency.

“Our offensive line has to come out and get some movement,” Harris said. “We have to be able to step up and get a push up front and sustain blocks. We’ve challenged that group on the offensive line. We have to move the football and we can’t get behind the chains. First down is going to be important; we have to get some movement and leave us in manageable situations to stay on the field.

“We also need to sustain drives and find a way to get points. We have to get points when we have a chance. We have a good kicker (Brian Frias) and if we need a field goal, we’re going to kick it to get something out of drives. If we can’t get a first down, we have to throw underneath and take what we can get. We have stressed getting low and making blocks and then sustaining them or getting to the next level and getting a block.”

Harris said the Eagles are counting on senior quarterback Charlie Trachte to manage the game offensively and make good decisions.

“Charlie is a quiet guy but when he’s on the field he demands everyone to focus and understand what we have called,” Harris said. “At times we had some younger guys having to play because of injuries but now those guys understand the system and Charlie isn’t having to move guys around and making sure everyone was set and ready.

“Of course we have Serrie and Rashad (Hurt) who are good threats but now we have developed guys like (Brandon) Goldsmith and several others who got a chance to play and have made the most of it and are now starting.”

So, just what type of look will the Chieftains throw at the Eagles?

“They have a couple of pretty good backs and we expect them to run the ball around 70 percent of the time,” Harris said. “They will try to keep the ball with their running game but we’ve seen them throw the ball when they feel they get a good matchup. We need to be able to stop the run and force them into a passing situation where we feel our secondary can make some plays to get us off the field.”

Harris also sees special teams as being a critical factor as is so often the case in the playoffs.

“We have had some issues with punting at times but we’ve worked hard to get that straightened out,” he said. “We also have an edge with Serrie on returns and we’ve worked hard to find opportunities in that phase against them.”

The drive to Sapulpa is 180 miles and takes roughly three hours but the Eagles are breaking up the trip with a stop in Edmond.

“We are going to load up and drive to Edmond North and do a walk-through there at their field,” Harris said. “One of my former teammates at OU is on their staff and said we could stop and give our guys time to stretch their legs and go through a final walk-through.”