Can Ardmore High School football return to its position as a 5A powerhouse? Kylen Haskins certainly thinks so.

“Because my team is a pack of mean boys who want it more than anyone else does,” Haskins said.

Haskins, a soon-to-be junior fullback and linebacker, grew up watching the Tigers dominate their district foes. When Ardmore fell one late touchdown short to Carl Albert in a peculiar 2018 5A state football championship (Edmond Santa Fe’s stadium lights abruptly shut off late in the fourth and delayed the game about 20 minutes), Haskins was there.

“I remember watching [Tero Roberts] being like ‘I wanna be like that guy’ when I was younger. He was an illusive quarterback with great ball-carrying skills,” Haskins said. “And my freshman year, I looked up to players like Anton Scallion, CJ Williams and Eric Fields. Very great running backs.”

The Tigers went 3-7 last year. As far as raw talent goes, Haskins can’t compare the 2023 Ardmore football team to those of the past; but that’s not all there is to it.

“We have some great players now, but those teams were almost like super teams. Big players at every position. Very skilled lines and all that,” Haskins said. “I don’t have a doubt in mind that we can be that good. I believe we can. We just have to put in the work every day to get there and stack good days on top of good days.”

Haskins and crew expect to run a very “gritty” offense with relentless ground attacks sprinkled with bruising throws.

“I learned a lot of things from this past year, but the most important thing I learned is that I’m going to have to rely on my brothers to help me get the ball in the end zone by following their blocks and trusting them that they are going to get them,” Haskins said.