Eagles Staying Prepared During Quarantine, Return To Field Saturday

Sullivan Eagles head coach Eddie Haar said there was a range of emotions on the faces of his players when they learned they would be quarantined for two weeks.

“It was pretty tough,” said Haar, whose team has been out of action since Oct. 9. “We felt for the seniors. They already missed one game earlier in the year and all three games we’ll have missed will have been home games. You could see the look of disappointment, frustration and uncertainty. They had all those emotions. It was hard.”

Sullivan was notified after a loss to St. James that they would be out of action until this Saturday, when they can return to the practice field.

Their final two games of the regular season — against Owensville and North County — were canceled. 

Sullivan will still play in districts, which begin Friday, Oct. 30.

Haar is a fourth-year head coach who was hired from Potosi in May. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Eagles were unable to have a normal offseason.

He’s no stranger to stepping in under difficult circumstances.

Haar was named head coach at Potosi in July 2017, two months after the previous head coach had departed.

“We changed the offense and defense and started a little league program all in that first year,” he said. “It was a lot, but in three years it was night and day in how we built that culture.”

Haar, his wife Cassandra and their children moved to Sullivan to be closer to their families. He described it as hard, but a good move.

However, neither of his debut seasons at Potosi nor Sullivan have been ideal. 

Sullivan enters districts 1-5, but they’ve lost three games by less than a touchdown. Haar brought a different offense to Sullivan and while they can show explosiveness, he said the consistency isn’t quite there yet.

Not only were the Eagles unable to have a normal offseason, but Haar is the third head coach Sullivan’s seniors have played for.

“All that plays into (inconsistency),” he said. “We play a lot of young guys up front — guys who haven’t played offensive line before. We have three sophomores on the offensive line and we have a handful of sophomores on the defense. We got some good freshmen coming up and the junior varsity is undefeated. There’s been a lot of growth.”

Haar said the team has hurt itself with penalties, too.

“Against St. James, a lot of those errors resurfaced,” he said, referencing the 12-6 loss. “That’s what we’ve been focusing on. With the amount of young guys we play, that stuff is going to happen.”

Haar and the coaching staff have occupied their time during quarantine by reviewing game film and he said the progress is evident.

“I’ve had the opportunity to review everything,” he said. “I’ve watched the game film and the one positive thing that stands out is that it’s very clear how much we have improved, especially when you watch those games back to back to back. That’s encouraging for us.”

Haar has kept in touch with the players during the quarantine, giving them workouts that they can do at home and items to review on Hudl.

“We email workouts every day. It’s stuff they can do at home. It’s on them,” he said. “We use it as a self-motivating factor. Our season is not over and we still have an opportunity in districts. We’ve told them it’s up to them to be accountable to the team.”