Victory over Norman tastes sweet for Lawton Eisenhower
Lawton Eisenhower 20, Norman 13

By Justin Harper, Staff Writer Comments 0
Published: November 7, 2009

NORMAN — Midway through Lawton Eisenhower’s game three weeks ago, the donut business in Lawton wasn’t looking like it was going to have a banner year.

But after beating Norman 20-13 Friday, Lawton Eisenhower just fattened the bottom line of its favorite local pastry shop.

Thanks to the running of Louis Durant and a clutch play by Victor Jacobs, Eisenhower earned what a very short time ago looked like a highly improbable playoff berth and along the way dashed Norman’s postseason dreams. After a 1-5 start, the Eagles won three of their last four games, including two straight in dramatic fashion to grab the fourth and final District 6A-2 slot for the postseason.

Heading into Friday’s contest at Harve Collins Field, Norman was in control of its destiny with a win-and-in scenario. Ike, meanwhile, needed to win and get some help. The Eagles got both, as Edmond Memorial eliminated Putnam City from the playoffs, preventing the Pirates from gaining the playoff spot via a district-points tiebreaker over Ike.

And because of that, business is booming for at least another week at Wright Donuts.

After every victory, Eisenhower coach Boone Copeland treats his squad to donuts over film study Saturday morning. And after a last-second field goal gave the Eagles a win over Westmoore last week, Copeland had a feeling his trip to the doughnut store wasn’t going to be the last of the 2009 season.

"He always gets us doughnuts when we win, and he just was telling us he had a feeling that he’d be back for more this week,” said Durant, who came into the game with 439 yards rushing and five TDs, but rambled for 134 yards and two scores against the Tigers. "Not too long ago it didn’t look like we had a chance at the playoffs. Now we’re still playing.”

The Eagles, 4-6 overall and 3-4 district play, controlled the game for the better part of the action Friday. But when Norman running back Donovan Roberts — who was sensational Friday despite playing on an injured hip — scooted into the end zone from 9 yards out with 7:15 to play, Ike saw what had been a 20-3 lead halfway through the third quarter cut down to 20-13.

But just when it looked like Norman (4-6, 3-4) was going to rally back for a win and its first playoff berth since 2006, Jacobs saved the day for the underdog Eagles. With a little more than a minute and a half to play, the Tigers had driven to the Eagles’ 20-yard line. But on second down, Jacobs jumped a slant route, picked off a Norman pass and darted 60 yards down the sideline before getting bumped out of bounds.

Ball game.

"These last two games have been real exciting right to the end,” said Jacobs, who now has two picks on the year. "That interception ... I try to make that play all the time in practice and I’m always so close but don’t get it. This time I found that extra step.”

Roberts took a lot of extra steps against Ike. The sophomore ran for a game-best 169 yards and a touchdown (giving him 1,070 yards for the season) on a punishing 31 carries. He had all but 73 of Norman’s total offensive yards and ran the ball 20 times out of 24 Norman plays during a span of the third and fourth quarters.

Nonetheless, the Eagles, once 1-5, now extend the season a week to face District 6A-1 champ Southmoore.

"Hopefully it won’t be another one of these close finishes,” Durant said. "I’d rather win easy. Just shut the team out and put a goose-egg on the board.”

Point made, but surely he meant donut.