A third consecutive 0-3 start didn’t send the Eisenhower football team scurrying to the nearest panic button.

Unlike the past two years, in which the Eagles posted 3-7 records, they had a different feeling about this start.

“We purposefully played a tough schedule (the three non-district opponents, Humble, North Shore and Lufkin, are a combined 16-2),” coach Darryl Phipps said. “No. 1, we felt we could compete with the top programs. Two, we’d have to play them eventually anyway (if they make the postseason). No. 3, it steels us for the fire.

“We were 0-3 coming out of the preseason … but this 0-3 was a little different. It was an optimistic 0-3. The kids just kept playing and they were prepared once we got to the district.”

A diverse offense and increasingly stingy defense have paced a total turnaround. Eisenhower is 3-0 in District 19-5A entering Friday’s game against undefeated Nimitz (6-0, 3-0) at Thorne Stadium, stirring hopes among a hungry fan base that the Eagles can recapture the power that surrounded runs to the state semifinals in 1992 and 1998.

“We weren’t too worried,” receiver/defensive back Craig Loston said of the 0-3 start. “It was just about getting ready for district.”

The defense, which allowed an average of 38 points in the non-district games, allowed Memorial just 167 yards in a 26-0 shutout the first week of district play. It followed with just 210 yards against Northbrook and 251 last week against Stratford, when it shut out the Spartans for the final 33-plus minutes and scored 12 unanswered points in the second half to win 19-14.

Traditionally an option team, Eisenhower has developed a potent passing game with Kenneth Guiton (87-160, 1,476 yards, nine touchdowns, six interceptions). Curtis McGregor, Gregory Timmons and Jazz Reynolds all are at or near 300 yards receiving; Timmons and Reynolds have three touchdowns apiece.

Guiton has rushed for only 87 yards but has five touchdowns.

“A lot of teams run to set up the pass,” Phipps said. “We’re comfortable passing to set up the run. We have a lot of options open to us.”

Against Stratford, Oscar Ortez kicked two field goals to draw Eisenhower within 14-13 in the fourth quarter before Guiton’s 6-yard touchdown run with 2:48 left.

“We were in the huddle in the fourth quarter and I said ‘fourth quarter,’ and the rest of the guys said ‘our quarter,’ ” said Loston, a junior who verbally committed to Texas A&M in January. “I said ‘our quarter’ and they said ‘fourth quarter.’ You could feel the momentum shift.”

The Eagles are littered with Division I talent. Senior defensive lineman Rod Davis (6-foot-3, 302 pounds) is headed to A&M, and linebacker Darius Wills has committed to Buffalo. The starting quarterback last year before Guiton’s emergence, Wills moved to defense by necessity.

After Nimitz, Eisenhower closes the league schedule with Spring Woods (0-6, 0-3), Aldine (1-5, 1-2) and MacArthur (2-4, 2-1). 

“Everybody in the neighborhood knows what Eisenhower’s done. They look at us and know this program’s winning ways,” Davis said. “A lot of players have (entire families who have) gone here. They all know the black and gold. Our motto is ‘It’s Business.’ Nothing personal on the field, just business. We’re working to get that swagger back.”

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