From student section to starting safety: Christ The King’s Harris finds his field of dreams

Cowen Harris is the hero of every person who ever watched an athlete or performer and said to themselves, “I bet I can do that!”

Two years ago, Harris sat in the stands at Christ The King Catholic High’s homecoming game and found himself wanting to “play football.”

The only problem? Harris hadn’t played organized football before.

Sure, he was an excellent baseball player, a 6-2, 190-pound athlete. But he had no football experience.

Fast-forward two years, and Harris is starting safety and wide receiver at Christ The King. He and the rest of the Crusaders (0-3) open Catawba Shores 1A-2A Conference play Friday night in Winston-Salem against Carver. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

Oh, yes ... Harris has signed to play football next year at Middlebury College in Vermont.

He is among a small number of juniors and seniors on a Christ The King team loaded with freshmen and sophomores.

“Cowen and our other juniors and seniors have taken on a real leadership role this season, with all the young players we have,” Christ The King coach Brian Decker said.

Doing it differently

Football is a bit different at Christ The King, which opened in 2011 and plays at the 1A level in the N.C. High School Athletic Association.

For starters, most of the coaches, including Decker, are employed outside the school and carve time from their jobs to work with the team.

And as a relatively new school, Christ The King is ready to take a chance on students like Cowen Harris.

“I joined the team last year as a junior but didn’t play much at first,” he said. “But I kept working hard, and I was able to start the last five games.”

Harris’ father, Brian, played football at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh and encouraged his son to chase his dream.

“My dad gave me a lot of tips, but Coach Decker and the other coaches have been fantastic,” he said. “And my teammates have been great. It’s been a learning process, but it has gone well.”

He said he’s typically not an aggressive person but “I can flick the switch on the football field. I like to tackle and make plays.”

Christ The King’s roster is full of good players that many people haven’t heard of, say some of the Crusaders’ veteran players.

“There’s all kinds of talent on this team,” said senior Kyle Corrigan.

He is an example of that. Corrigan is the top-ranked punter in North Carolina and is being recruited by several schools.

“I think, because we’re a 1A school, some people aren’t familiar with the talent on this team,” added senior defensive back Jonah Sithong. “We’re not an 0-3 football team. We’ve lost some close games, but we’ll start winning soon.”

Building blocks

“When we got here, coach (Decker) said we were building blocks of the program,” added senior running back J.P. Zimmerman.

Harris said the key for Christ The King is to finish games. The Crusaders lost in the last minute two weeks ago to Lake Norman Charter and saw a rally fall just short in an opening loss to Cannon School.

“When we start finishing games, we’ll be hard to beat,” he said.

Harris, whose younger brothers Luke and Andrew are not football players (yet), said his best advice for people who think they can do something is to try it.

“Playing football looked like something I wanted to do,” he said. “My background in the sport is a bit unusual, but it can be done. If you work hard and enjoy what you’re doing, it’s worth a try.”