For the first time in 28 years, the Millers made the second round of playoffs for football. The Millers finished the regular season with a 5-5 record and a 3-2 record district which allowed them to finish 2nd in their respective division behind Owasso. The Millers record then capped off at 6-6 after being eliminated in the second round of playoffs at now state-runner ups Owasso.

Despite the loss to Owasso in the second round, the achievement was big for not only the school, but the community according to athletic director Brian Hinson.

“I think anytime a program is able to achieve something that they haven’t done in a long time it’s significant for not only the program, but also the school and the community,” Hinson said. “We live in Oklahoma, where football is king, so anytime you have a successful football program or season, it’s going to bleed over into the school.”

The last time they made it to the second round for football was 1997 where they were state runner-ups to Jenks 56-8 in the final. Since then, the Millers made the playoffs in 1998 (9-2), 2009 (5-6), 2010 (8-3), 2011 (6-4-1), 2012 (5-6), 2013 (6-5), 2020 (6-5), and 2021 (4-7) but were never able to make the second round. The Millers snapped the 28 year long drought under assistant athletic director Brent Barnes, who was hired as the football coach in 2023 who began to lay down the foundation for the program. 

“The first couple years were really kind of just laying the groundwork and foundation for what we’re trying to do, and just keep developing and keep getting better,” Barnes said. “We’ve improved every season and I’m just really proud of the growth that we’ve had so far.” 

The Millers started out 1-9 under Barnes’ first season in 2023, but improved to 3-7 in 2024 then 6-6 with a playoff appearance and win in 2025. The first four games of the Millers season had them 3-1 but as they hit a tough stretch.

“We had a tough stretch early in the middle of the season, Broken Arrow and memorial losses were kind of a low point,” Barnes said.

 In their fifth game of the season, they suffered a loss to Broken Arrow 42-14 then a 37-13 at Edmond Memorial the following week. Though the next week the Millers suffered a 49-20 versus Union, Barnes said it gave them confidence going into the most crucial part of their season.

“We came back against Union the following week and really had a good performance even though we lost,” Barnes said. “It felt like we finally turned the corner and headed back in the right direction. The win against Norman North is what just kind of propelled us forward and gave us the momentum going to the back half of the season with confidence.”

 The Millers faced off against Norman North at Norman in a game that decided the Millers playoff fate. The Millers however, faced weather issues causing them to suffer a two and a half hour weather delay. A late night showdown saw the Millers come up with the 48-40 win in Norman after finishing the game around 12:30am that early morning where Barnes was impressed with his team’s fight and commitment despite drawbacks. The momentum from the Norman North game helped the Millers then sealed their playoff berth in their second to last game of the regular season over Edmond Santa Fe in a 29-7 win at home the week following Norman North. Eventually the Millers season ended on November 21, at Owasso, suffering a 45-7 loss against Owasso. For senior running back, linebacker, and captain Destry Lujan the result was unfortunate. 

“I thought we had a lot of confidence,” Lujan said. “A lot of energy, a lot of preparation and hard work. Maybe things didn’t go our way in that game, and we kind of let up a little bit when we shouldn’t have. I thought we were going to have a better chance because we had seen the week before and they hadn’t played for a week. We were hoping to take advantage of that, but it didn’t end up happening.”

Though the Millers lost in the second round of playoffs, hopes were still high for Barnes with his team. With having started six sophomores and a majority of juniors, Barnes believed the standard for making playoffs had been set with the taste of playoffs the Millers grasped. 

“I think what we did this year is kind of a new standard for us, and we would expect our goals every year are going to be to make the playoffs and win in the playoffs,” Barnes said.