Once Racer Felter found the gap, there was no stopping him.
The sophomore might be a backup quarterback, but no defender could catch Felter as he wove his way 39 yards for a touchdown at Cameron Stadium on Thursday night. Felter's run was the only score of the 20-minute running clock simulated game, giving the Highlanders a 7-0 advantage over defending Class 5A champion and preseason No. 1 Carl Albert.
Mac also met 6A-I team Mustang in a simulated game, battling to a scoreless draw. Earlier the three teams held rapid-fire sessions as the coaches worked to put the final touches on their teams before the season openers.
"It was a designed run, but the offensive line did a really great job of opening up a hole for me to run through," Felter said of the scoring play. "Beating a team like that that we've constantly went against and that's so good gets us some momentum going now, and it'll be good for us starting the season next week."
The score was the finishing touch to a methodical 90-yard drive that came thanks to a dominant performance on the ground from running back Nick Mahan.
Mahan picked up only six yards on the Highlanders' initial drive of the scrimmage, but he wasn't satisfied.
The senior picked up 38 of his 73 yards on that scoring drive, tallying two runs of 10 or more yards in the process. He had no such runs against McGuinness, managing only 28 yards on eight carries.
Mahan said things just felt better this time around, thanks in large to the return of lineman Isaiah Passi.
"We got our right guard back who was out last week, and he really helped out opening holes for me," Mahan said.
MacArthur coach Brett Manning said he was not surprised with Mahan's success running the ball.
"He's a hard-nosed runner, and he's going to hit his holes like he's supposed to," Manning said. "He's a competitor, and I think we'll see that all year long."
Mahan did not carry the ball against Mustang.
Perhaps the biggest performance, though, came from the Highlanders' defense.
Despite a slow start in the rapid-fire portion of the scrimmage, Mac showed tremendous im[JUMP]Mac showed tremendous improvement from its outing against McGuinness, where the starters gave up touchdown runs of 59 and 60 yards.
Both the Titans and the Broncos had their share of big plays, but the Highlanders defended their side of the field, forcing punts on every possession. Mac gave up 86 yards to Carl Albert and Mustang combined.
Mac gave up two 40-yard runs and two long passes that would've resulted in touchdowns during rapid fire, but Manning said the team knew things wouldn't come easy against good teams, and it brought that mentality into the 20-minute scrimmages.
"When you play tough people, you're not going to just go out there and dominate them," Manning said. "McGuinness, Mustang and Carl Albert are going to have big plays. It's important for us to keep our heads up and learn and get better each week.
"It's hard to say what the difference from last week to this week was, but we had some of our best practices of the year this past week, and I really appreciate the way our team responded to last week. Everybody knew McGuinness got the better of us, so we watched film, and Saturday was our best practice of the year. I'm a firm believer in if you practice really hard, you're going to get better."
Manning said the Highlanders accomplished what they set out to do this time around, and they are prepared for opening week against city rival Eisenhower.
"I felt like we did a good job of mixing stuff up, and I think the defense played great," Manning said. "We gave up a number of decent-sized plays, but no one was ever close to scoring on us.
"Two weeks in a row we've faced really good opponents and quality teams, and we're not any more injured than we were against McGuinness. I think we've got some good experience now and we're ready for game week."