HOLDEN, Mo. -- While 2008 was a year for excellence in the Holden football program, 2009 has been a test of perseverance.

Interestingly enough, both teams ended up in the same place.

One year after the perfect 2008 regular season, the Eagles won just one of their first eight games. But with wins in their final two district games – and a little help from the Class 3 District 13 opposition – the Eagles once again find themselves district champions with a chance to host a playoff game (7 p.m. Wednesday at Holden).

“It’s been a crazy season,” said Holden coach Rich Johnson. “I’ve been coaching 15 years, involved in football for 26, and I’ve never seen anything quite like this year.”

On the heels of the strong 2008 campaign, in which Holden went 1-1 in the playoffs, the Eagles entered this season in high spirits. The team had a 13-1 record in its summer team camp and returned a core of juniors and seniors with varsity experience.

But the Eagles lost their season opener to Warsaw, an unbeaten playoff team in Class 2. Then they suffered injuries to four key players in a week two loss to Richmond, and it took most of the season to recover.

“We felt like we could be a good football team at the beginning of the year, but then the injuries showed up,” Johnson said. “But then we gained experience, we got healthy and at the end of the year we played well.”

Thursday’s district finale versus Oak Grove was the first time all four players who were injured in week two were back in the lineup – and Holden flattened the Panthers 57-9.

The Eagles finished +17 in the scoring margin district tiebreaker, and that made them district champions ahead of Pleasant Hill (+15) and Clinton (+10) after all three teams finished 2-1 in district play.

“It’s very rewarding for them,” Johnson said of his team. “I’m very proud of them, and I think they feel good about themselves that they got the opportunity to win the championship.

“Finally it just clicked, and they came on and actually got that opportunity and did what they needed to do to win a championship. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot in week eight (in a loss to Clinton), but then we did what we needed to do. Of course with losing in week eight, we had to have a little bit of help, and sometimes it’s nice to be lucky.”

Holden’s ground game is looking quite healthy entering Wednesday’s playoff tilt with Richmond. On Thursday, the Eagles surpassed 300 yards on the ground for the second straight week when they burned Oak Grove for 355 yards on 50 carries.

Senior fullback James Gray has managed a clean bill of health this season after a broken leg derailed his 2008 campaign – and he’s responded with 1,278 rushing yards on 223 carries (5.8 per carry) and 12 touchdowns. Versus Oak Grove, he carried 18 times for 203 yards and scored four TDs.

“He’s been a mainstay for us all year,” Johnson said. “He’s kind of been our horse. When we lost Kyle (Elkins) he had to be the guy. And now that we have Kyle back we have our 1-2 punch there in the backfield and our freshman quarterback is very talented running the option there also.”

Elkins has totals of 95 and 118 yards rushing in the past two games. Freshman Jeff Miller took over the starting spot at quarterback after the week eight loss to Clinton, and he responded with 121 yards rushing in a 28-20 win over Pleasant Hill.

The Holden defense has shown improvement as well the past two weeks, and the unit got a boost from the return of junior linebacker Jacob Reiman versus Oak Grove. Junior David Carter, who leads the team with 98 total tackles this season, got 13 versus Oak Grove.

Now the Eagles prepare to face the same Richmond squad that caused them so much pain in week two. They hope to reverse that 28-6 loss.

Johnson said Richmond (6-4) is big and physical, with ample talent in the backfield.

“I’m excited to be able to get a rematch against Richmond just to find out how much better we’ve gotten as a football team,” Johnson said. “In week two, they beat us up pretty bad, and we get to find out how much better we’ve gotten, if any.”