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Muskogee Phoenix Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021
Pigskin Preview
After year on the COVID shelf, NSU, Eckert look for football revival MIAA Media When Northeastern State coach J.J. Eckert looks at junior offensive lineman Madison Wrather and defensive lineman Damani Carter, he sees the building blocks of the type of football program the RiverHawks aspire to be in the MIAA. “We want to be a program of not just recruiting great talent but great character,” Eckert said. “You want a group of guys who are going to be here for four or five years, get a chance to earn a great degree and have a lot of memories they take with them as they transition into life 101.” In Wrather and Carter, the RiverHawks have two leaders who have the character to show a young Northeastern football team the right way to do things. Wrather has played the last 22 games for the RiverHawks. In July, Wrather earned CoSIDA First-Team All-Academic honors. “I couldn’t have done it without being put in position to do it,” Wrather said. “The football staff here and my teammates were flexible enough with me and allowed me to accomplish it. It is something I am proud of.” Carter arrived in 2019 as a graduate transfer from the University of Arkansas. An injury cut short his final season of collegiate football. He was granted a redshirt. Covid-19 canceled the 2020 season, and Carter got another redshirt. “Having to miss seven games in 2019 really ignited a fire in me that I never had before,” Carter said. “I un-
NSU SCHEDULE S4 Emporia St., 6 p.m. S11 at Mo. Southern, 2 p.m. S18 Pitt State, 6 p.m. S25 at Lincoln, 1 p.m. O2 C. Missouri, 2 p.m. O7 C. Oklahoma, 7 p.m. O16 at Mo. Western, 7 p.m. O23 NW Missouri, noon O30 at Washburn, 1 p.m. N6 Fort Hays St., 1 p.m. N13 at Neb.-Kearney, noon derstood I loved the game, but having to sit back brings a whole different perspective on how lucky I am to play. I am highly motivated.” The RiverHawks, Eckert said, used the time off from games in 2020 to continue to build a culture that will hopefully bring success on the field on Saturdays in the fall. Throughout the previous school year, the players hit the weight room and got bigger, faster and stronger. Eckert pointed out that the players look better in their uniforms because of the work they put in. Several spring scrimmages against outside competition also aided in the development. “We finished against a real good team in Ouachita Baptist in our last scrimmage of the year,” Eckert said. “The time off gave us a chance to see exactly where we are at going into the summer. It gave us a chance to change the culture into something we can really be proud of.” Of course, players like Wrather and Carter wanted to play last season. But they recognized the benefits the time off from games meant
to the program. “We are a young football team,” Wrather said. “I think it helped us out more than other schools. In the spring, the competition meant the world to us. It kind of taught us to not look at the scoreboard as much, to keep going on the field.” Going into last fall, Carter said, there was a lot of uncertainty of who was going to be playing. The fall of 2020 helped the RiverHawks concentrate on themselves. “I think it actually made us focus to take it one day at a time to get better, bigger, faster, stronger,” Carter said. “When we eventually got on the field, we were really focused to bettering ourselves to be better as a team. That period helped us. Getting a chance to compete in the spring helped us to see where we are at.” Rarely does a team in the bottom half of conference make a leap to the top half in one year in a conference as strong as the MIAA. It is a process. Eckert is realistic and understands the necessary steps it takes. He watched the work the RiverHawks put in a year ago and believes they are ready to make the climb up. “I think we made a lot of headway there,” Eckert said. “We were able to find some ways to improve. We grew closer as a football team and became more of a brotherhood which you are looking to be as a program.” “Our overall habits got better. Our commitment to each other got better. The idea of being a team and being part of something bigger than yourself definitely got
CNHI/Tahlequah Daily Press
Northeastern State junior receiver Mark Wheeland catches a pass while freshman defensive back Jaylin Coleman defends during preseason drills at Doc Wadley Stadium. better. “We want to be a competitive football program. We want to go out on a weekly
basis and play 60 minutes of football and be the best football team we can possibly be.”
