After suffering blowout losses in consecutive weeks, MacArthur finally found what it has been looking for — resolve.
With playoff implications now on the line, the Highlanders responded accordingly, defeating Western Heights, 41-0, in their District 5A-1 opener at Cameron Stadium Thursday night in a game lasting less than two hours.
"I was happy with our week of practice, and I was happy with our attitude," Mac coach Brett Manning said. "I'm happy that we can be in a position of being 1-2 and still keep a positive attitude and play. I think the result of tonight would've been the same regardless of how our practices went and how our attitude was just because of our opponent."
No. 6 Mac (2-2, 1-0) excelled in all areas of the game, with most of the attention surrounding Racer Felter.
The sophomore replaced JR Winningham as the starting quarterback, and he didn't disappoint.
Felter finished with 129 yards passing and two touchdowns on 13-of-16 passing, as well as 29 yards rushing in only one half of action.
Manning and the coaching staff made the decision early in the week, and he said the team responded well to the switch, including Winningham.
"(Felter) is one of us, and I think everybody can see he's done some really good things," Manning said. "We had an individual talk with both of them, and JR handled it the right way, like I would want him to.
"He was obviously disappointed, but then went out at practice that afternoon and was positive and worked hard and did a great job."
Although he lost the starting position, Winningham had his fair share of snaps as the signal caller, throwing for 68 yards on 4-of-4 passing, including a 37-yard strike to Trey Longacre which led to a score.
Felter said it was a surreal feeling walking onto the field as a starter for the first time.
"It felt really good, especially playing with the guys around me," Felter said. "They really encouraged me to do good.
"We did good, altogether. I missed a few throws, but that's just about getting in, finding a rhythm and getting out there."
Manning said he felt comfortable with the way Felter composed himself and executed the game plan.
"I thought he was pretty sharp," Manning said. "He did a good job of running and throwing."
Running back Nick Mahan also had an impressive showing, rushing for 105 yards and three touchdowns on only 13 carries.
The Highlanders finished with 403 total yards on the night against the Jets who came in at 2-1 but hadn't played nearly as tough a schedule as Mac had played.
A week after surrendering 468 yards to Amarillo Tascosa, Mac's defense responded in a big way, holding the Jets to minus-19 yards in the first half and only 27 yards overall — most of which came on a 30-yard run by Rickey Colbert late in the fourth quarter.
"I thought we did a lot better," Manning said. "Most of the improvement I've seen has been made in practice. It's hard to compare our opponent tonight to our opponents the first three weeks. We can't just say we're that much better now — you have to take all of that into consideration.
"I'm proud of the way we've worked, and our performance tonight was good, as expected."
Mahan scored on a 25-yard run on the first carry of the game with less than two minutes of game time expired, and it looked like the Highlanders were going to pull away in the first quarter.
However, the Jets (2-2, 0-1) weren't ready to give up just yet.
Western Heights stopped Mac on its next two possessions, forcing a three-and-out and a turnover on downs. That served as only a minor inconvenience for the Highlanders, though.
Felter connected with Longacre on a quick pop pass for a 10-yard touchdown to give Mac a 13-0 lead with 1:06 left in the first, and it was all Highlanders after that.
Mahan exploded in the second quarter with touchdown runs of 8 and 6 yards, and Felter added his second touchdown of the game and the season with a short 3-yard pass to Tre Currin, extending the lead to 34-0 going into the half.
Mac's final score came with 3:07 left in the third quarter when backup running back Dashaun Davis found the end zone from 1-yard out. Davis finished with 75 yards rushing on 13 carries.
Manning said the win was a step in the right direction for the team as it enters the second half of the season.
"I think we're on the right track, and I think we've been on the right track all along," Manning said. "It's tough to lose some games, but they haven't wavered at all — they've been really good."
The Highlanders return to action at 7 p.m. next Friday on the road against El Reno (2-1). The Indians travel to No. 4 Ardmore tonight.