He Wants to Ring Up a Title for Charter Oak : Prep football: Running back Mike Harris has been inspired for his senior season since running into a friend who was part of a championship team.

COVINA — Mike Harris drew inspiration from an evening at the movies last summer, but his experience had little to do with cinematic drama.

As Harris, a standout running back and defensive back for Charter Oak High, emerged from the darkened theater, he came upon Baldwin Park running back Lawrence Phillips in the lobby.

During a friendly conversation, Phillips flashed the Southern Section championship ring he won with the Braves last year. Harris responded with a flash of inspiration.

“He’s a friend, but I felt kind of bad because I didn’t have a ring like that,” Harris said. “I knew right then that I sure did want one.”

Harris has taken steps toward achieving his goal with outstanding play for Charter Oak, which has shaken off three years of futility and opened the season with three consecutive victories.

The Chargers, under Coach Lou Farrar, have defeated Northview, 21-9, Gladstone, 37-0, and San Dimas, 29-2.

Harris, a 5-foot-10, 165-pound senior, has rushed for 536 yards and has 115 yards in return yardage. Last week against San Dimas, he gained 167 yards and scored on runs of 44 and four yards.

“We’re not really that concerned with wins right now as much as getting to the playoffs and having a chance to play for a championship,” said Harris, a two-time all-league selection for the Chargers, who have moved this season from the Sierra League to the newly formed Miramonte League. “We just hope to have a better season than we’ve had the last two years.”

That should not be a problem for Charter Oak, which has already matched its victory total of the last three years.

Despite its recent losing tradition, the Chargers success is not entirely unexpected. Before the season began, several coaches in the San Gabriel Valley labeled Charter Oak as one of the area’s teams to beat.

Fourteen Charter Oak players, including Harris, are in their third varsity seasons. The Chargers have not been scored upon in the second half.

“This is a plan that was set in cement and madness at the same time when these kids were sophomores,” Farrar said. “We have 10 men who have not missed a practice, meeting or game in three years. This kind of approach and dedication is beginning to pay dividends.

“But believe me, this has been a long, frustrating process at times.”

Harris remembers his sophomore season vividly. After an impressive showing with the freshman team in 1989, Harris thought he would end up on junior varsity as a 10th-grader.

Instead, he found himself under the stadium lights as a 145-pound starting defensive back and flanker for the varsity.

“Everybody was pretty shocked before our first game (against Northview),” Harris said. “We had a lot of sophomores and we didn’t think we were ready to play with the big boys. I thought I was too small.”

Harris made an immediate impact, intercepting three passes against Northview. The Chargers, however, were overmatched against Sierra League opponents and finished 0-6-3.

Harris moved to running back last season. He proved to be an impressive ballcarrier, but he lacked durability, missing three games because of a separated shoulder and suffering a hip injury in the final game of the season. The Chargers finished 3-7, with victories over Northview, Diamond Bar and Wilson.

Harris is stronger this season and has avoided injury. He still turns corners with breakaway speed and has become a potent inside runner.

“Last week he broke seven tackles,” Farrar said. “That’s an extra facet of his offensive ability that we weren’t expecting so soon.”

Miramonte League opponents, including Los Altos, Wilson, Walnut, Ganesha and Garey, can expect to see Harris as the main focus of the Chargers’ offense.

But Harris is not anticipating that he will play running back in college. Colorado and USC are among the schools that have expressed interest in him as a defensive back.

That suits Harris fine.

“I like flying around and hitting people,” he said.

First, however, Harris hopes to help the Chargers win a league championship, and, perhaps, a Southern Section ring.

“Winning these first three games has been great,” he said. “It’s the first time in a long time that our school has been able to feel this way.

“We just want to keep it going.”