After winning the past two games by an average of 35 points, MacArthur turns its attention to stiffer competition in the form of Del City which comes to Cameron Stadium on Thursday for a 7 p.m. Homecoming contest.
Although the teams enter tonight's contest with a combined record of 5-5, don't let that fool you. Both teams have played a tough schedule thus far, and the records certainly reflect that.
The Highlanders fell to Class 6A-II No. 4 Lawton and undefeated Texas power Amarillo Tascosa, while the losses on the Eagles' resume include 6A-II No. 2 Midwest City (41-6) and two of the top three teams in Class 5A, No. 2 Bishop McGuinness (32-23) and No. 3 Altus (24-21).
There are only three losses between those five squads.
Aside from the lopsided loss to the Bombers, Del City has proven it can play with anyone. Twelve total points are all that separated the Eagles from a 4-1 start.
Del City (2-3, 1-1) was caught looking ahead last week, struggling with lowly Western Heights in a 34-14 win, but Mac coach Brett Manning said he anticipates the Eagles to be more motivated this time around.
"There's times that they look really good, but they didn't play real well against Western Heights -- it was a one-touchdown game going into the fourth quarter," Manning said. "I think maybe that has to do with the fact they have a habit of playing down to their opponent's level. We've seen them play really good teams and play really well, and we've seen them play teams that aren't so good and have close games with them.
"I don't think there's any reason that they wouldn't play really well against us, and we're expecting a tough game against them."
Big-play momentum
If the Highlanders (3-2, 2-0) want to keep their win streak in tact, the key will be preventing the big play.
Through five games, Mac has given up 12 touchdowns of 47 yards or more, 10 of which were beyond 50 yards. Nine of the scores came by way of the ground.
Manning said the defense will have to be disciplined if it wants to avoid that number from growing.
"We're going to have to get into our assigned gaps and run the defenses that are being called," Manning said. "(Opponents) hurt us a lot when we had people not being the gap they were supposed to be in, and then all of a sudden, there was a big hole there. We're there was a big hole there. We're going to have to do a better job of getting the calls and doing our jobs.
"We're dealing with a brand new linebacker, and we've got two new safeties that we rely on heavily in the run game," Manning said. "They're still trying to figure it out, and they're not doing a bad job, but if you get one little false move, it ends up being a big play against us."
However, Mac is more than capable of countering with big plays of its own.
The Highlanders have five scores of that variety, all coming from quarterback Racer Felter and running back Nick Mahan. Furthermore, the pair is responsible for 26 of the team's 28 touchdowns this season. They combined for 797 of Mac's 826 yards against El Reno last week.
"They've been our one-two punch with us being without a No. 2 running back that we're really comfortable with right now," Manning said. "That doesn't surprise me -- I didn't know that stat -- but that seems about right."
Speed vs. Height
The Highlanders had great success throwing the ball last week, with Felter finishing with 395 yards through the air and three touchdowns. All of those touchdowns and a bulk of the yardage went to Jarious McKnight.
However, McKnight will be up against his toughest test yet -- Issac Beverly.
Beverly, who stands 6-4, will be the main defender trying to contain the senior, and there's no question he plans to use his length to his advantage. McKnight is only 5-10, giving up 6 inches to the highly-touted defensive back.
Although McKnight might be at a disadvantage when it comes to 50-50 ball situations, he said he will use his speed to compensate for the height difference.
"I know he's really good, so we have to watch out for him," McKnight said. "Hopefully (Felter) will just throw it far, and I'll just run under it and use my speed."