OKLAHOMA CITY — Four has undoubtedly become Nick Mahan’s lucky number.
The senior rushed for four touchdowns for the third-straight game, leading the Highlanders to an emphatic 35-6 win over Southeast at Speegle Stadium in Oklahoma City on Thursday night.
Mahan finished with 167 yards rushing on 31 carries to go along with his scores, bringing his season total to 1,173 — a staggering 167.57 yards per contest.
Mac coach Brett Manning said he has remained confident in Mahan’s ability to run the ball because he is consistent and reliable.
“He doesn’t look like a typical MacArthur running back, and people had their doubts, but I’ve told people since the beginning that Nick is going to be a really good back for us,” Manning said.
Mahan has made a habit of wearing down opposing defenses, and once he got rolling on Thursday night, the Spartans (3-4, 0-4) didn’t have an answer.
He chewed up the Southeast defense to the tune of 5.38 yards per carry, with 10 of his touches going for 5 or more yards. His touchdown runs came on runs of 3, 12, 3 and 32 yards.
Southeast managed to contain the power running back to only 63 yards on 17 carries in the first half, but that didn’t hurt Mahan’s drive whatsoever.
Mahan tallied 104 yards on 14 carries in the second half and combined for 68 yards on his final two carries alone, including a 32-yard scoring burst to increase the Highlanders’ advantage to 29 points with 11:11 left in the game.
Mahan credited the improved stats in the second half to his offensive line.
“At halftime, the offensive line probably made adjustments,” Mahan said. “They picked up the guys who were stopping me in the first half.
“Me and my offensive line, we like to grind you out. We’re going to grind you out, and then eventually we’re going to go off on you. Every week they do great at practice, so when I come out here, the holes are just wide open.”
Mahan recorded five rushing touchdowns in the first three games, but since the beginning of district play, he has seemingly pushed beyond his limits. He has now scored 15 touchdowns in the past four games, racking up 723 yards in the process.
Mahan attributed his recent success to a combination of competition level and an improved work ethic.
“The first three games, we played great defenses,” Mahan said. “These past few defenses have been good, but not as good as those first three. We’re also just practicing harder. It’s district time, so we take things more seriously.”
Despite Mahan’s success on the ground, the Highlanders (4-3, 3-1) experienced difficulties moving the ball at times, especially in third-down situations.
Mac struggled to keep the offense on the field, committing two turnovers and converting on third down on only 3 of 12 occasions.
After scoring on its opening two possessions, including a 39-yard strike from Racer Felter to Jarious McKnight, the offense stalled.
The Highlanders failed to score again until 4:17 left in the second quarter, and the trend continued well into the third quarter.
A defensive pass interference kept a drive deep in Southeast territory alive after an incomplete pass on a fourth-down attempt, and Mahan scooted into the end zone for the third time with 1:30 remaining in the quarter to give Mac a 28-6 lead.
The Highlanders finished with 381 total yards.
Manning admitted his team struggled in areas, but he gave credit to Southeast and its defensive scheme.
“They played hard and committed a lot of people to the run,” Manning said. They played really hard against us, and we had some missed opportunities too. We had some dropped balls, and we did some stuff to put us in third-and-long situations. When you have third-and-long, it’s a lot harder to convert.
“We were off a little bit, but not too bad.”
The defense picked up the slack, though, holding Southeast to only 137 total yards, including minus-29 yards rushing. Southeast’s lone touchdown came on a 38-yard screen pass from Mika Hill to D'marcus Hooks to cut Mac’s lead to 13-6 with 8:33 remaining in the second quarter.
“I was happy with our defense,” Manning said. “We made some adjustments, and I thought we were a lot better defending the passing game. They’ve got some good athletes, and we were able to contain them and not let them hurt us a whole lot.”
The Highlanders also disrupted the Spartans’ passing attack, sacking Hill 11 times — a feat Manning anticipated going into the night.
Hill finished with 166 yards through the air on 11-of-19 passing, but thanks to the sacks, he was held to minus-50 rushing yards.
“It’s what we should’ve had,” Manning said. “I didn’t feel like they were very good up front and thought we could get some pressure on them, so it’s what I expected.”
Mac returns home to Cameron Stadium next Friday for a huge District 5A-1 matchup with Duncan (3-3, 2-1). Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.