Eisenhower managed five first downs, and that was about it.
Coach Mike Burris has harped in recent weeks that mistakes and penalties have held his team back during its rough start to the season, but neither of those were to blame on Thursday night.
This time, Ike was simply outmatched by a state title contender.
Class 5A No. 6 Bishop McGuinness scored four touchdowns in each of the first two quarters, handing the struggling Eagles their second-straight shutout loss, 63-0, at Cameron Stadium.
Ike has been outscored 113-0 in its past two games. Piedmont defeated the Eagles last week, 50-0.
Even in a loss, Burris said all it takes is a little discipline to score points, but his team hasn’t managed to do that since its 34-8 victory over Northwest Classen two weeks ago.
“We get down there and should’ve scored, but we missed a block or gave up a sack,” Burris said. “We just gotta keep going. Nobody is gonna feel sorry for us. We just gotta keep working at it.”
The Irish (6-1, 4-0) scored in only five plays to open the game, and the rout was one from there, for they went into the locker room with a 56-0 advantage.
The quarterback-running back duo of Luke Tarman and Dominic Richardson were responsible for most of the damage, combining for 441 of McGuinness’ 533 yards of offense.
Tarman completed 11 of 16 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 120 yards and three more scores on only eight carries.
Richardson showed why he’s considered one of the best backs in the state, averaging about 13.1 yards per carry on the way to a 183-yard, three-touchdown performance on the ground. He also caught two passes for 34 yards.
The Eagles, on the other hand, mustered only 48 yards total, including minus-20 yards rushing. They were also held to a 1-of-11 third-down conversion rate and punted seven times.
Ike was outgained 457-17 in the first half alone.
Tariq Jackson led the team with 16 yards rushing on 10 carries, and quarterbacks Connor Collins and Tre Harris both combined for 68 yards through the air on 8-of-23 passing.
Derek Coleman finished with four catches for 29 yards.
Most of Ike’s drives went three-and-out, and Burris said though sometimes a win is out of reach, the Eagles can make the score more respectable by executing early in drives to prevent long-yardage situations.
“We just gotta control the clock a little more,” Burris said. “The passes we threw, I don’t know how many we dropped. When you drop it, the clock stops, and it’s not like they were contested. We just gotta catch the ball. We have better receivers than that. They need to concentrate and catch the ball and not worry about the yardage they get after the catch.”
Ike (1-6, 1-3) catches a break next week when it travels to Guymon before closing the season with No. 1 Carl Albert and No. 6 Guthrie. It might be a nearly five-hour drive, but tallying what could be the program’s second and final win of the season is a good consolation prize.
With that in mind, the players won’t let the recent blowout losses ruin what fun awaits them next Friday night.
“They’re playing Guymon, and they were excited when we played Northwest Classen,” Burris said. “They know they can beat them. We gotta perform a little better than we did tonight, though. We don’t want to make it close when it shouldn’t be.”