As the clock withered to zeroes and cheers rained down from the northside stands at Cameron Stadium, Eisenhower quarterback RJ Fisher looked to the home crowd with utter elation.
He knew the drought was over. The Eagles finally did it — they made the playoffs.
Despite a tragic start to the season, Ike has now won four-straight to open District 5A-2 play, with Friday night’s victory being a 41-21 triumph over Guthrie. The win earned the Eagles a spot in the postseason for the first time since 2011.
The senior was positively ecstatic following the historic performance, and he was ready to celebrate.
“We have one of the best student sections in Oklahoma, I believe, so that’s immediately who I went to,” Fisher said. “I celebrated with my classmates, and it’s really good to see the whole school happy for us.
“It means a whole lot to this program and especially coach (Mike) Burris, and I’m really glad we could do it under him.”
Fisher finished with 295 yards through the air and two touchdowns on 17-of-28 passing, while also racking up 114 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 20 carries. He recorded an interception on defense as well.
Burris, a second-year coach, said this success has been a long time coming, especially after managing only three wins combined in the past two seasons.
“It’s great for the kids and great for the fans, the teachers, the student body — everybody,” Burris said. “That puts us in third (in the standings).”
Fisher went right to work doing what he does best — dissecting opposing defenses with his arm and his legs.
He connected with receiver Tre Harris for a 45-yard gain on the first play of the game, and he completed the drive only three plays later to give the Eagles (4-3, 4-0) a 7-0 lead with just over a minute expired in the game.
Two possessions later, Fisher led his team on a methodical 73-yard drive, capped off by a 10-yard touchdown pass to Bradley Washington with 13 seconds left in the opening quarter.
“He’s just such a competitor — he makes things happen on the field,” Burris said. “Without him, we probably don’t get this win. He’s a big part of it.
“He’s a team leader, they follow him and he just drives that truck.”
Guthrie trimmed the Ike lead to 13-7 with 8:51 left in the second quarter, but the Eagles’ special teams unit once again answered the call.
Harris returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, giving Ike its third special teams score since the beginning of district play.
Harris, who also finished with four catches for 84 yards, said he was confident he would score from the moment he fielded the ball around his team’s 30-yard line.
“That’s just my mindset — I think I’m going to take everything back,” Harris said. “I was thinking touchdown, and I saw a hole and cut through it.”
Fisher tacked on a score before halftime and added another halfway through the third quarter to increase the Eagles’ advantage to 35-7, but the Bluejays weren’t quite ready to give up.
Ike turned the ball over on downs inside the Guthrie 10, and the Bluejays answered with a 92-yard drive for a score.
Then, like something straight out of a horror movie — on Friday the 13th of all days — Fisher fumbled, and Guthrie scored its second touchdown in 21 seconds on a 25-yard pass from Jackson Waddell to Gabe Gonzalez, making it a 35-21 game with 1:02 to go in the third.
Burris remembered his team nearly surrendering a 19-point lead to Piedmont two weeks ago, and he began to sweat a little bit, fearing a repeat performance.
“I was a little nervous, no joke,” Burris said. “One play can change the whole thing. One play and an onside kick and it can be tied up.”
The defense settled down, though, forcing a turnover on downs on both of Guthrie’s possessions in the fourth quarter, and Fisher put the game out of reach with a 16-yard touchdown run with 2:18 remaining.
Overall, the defense held the Bluejays to 0-of-9 on third-down conversions and 1-of-4 on fourth downs, forcing three turnovers in the process.
“We’ve been playing well the past few weeks,” Burris said. “Our two leaders — Armon Martin and Akheaven Hill — they’re running the defense and doing a good job.”
Ike travels to Midwest City next week to take on No. 1 Carl Albert. Although the Titans are undefeated, Fisher said his team is not intimidated.
“We’re not going to let up,” Fisher said. “We’re not going there to play for fun — we’re going there to win this game.”