MacArthur has little room for error.
As of tonight, the Highlanders (4-3, 3-1 District 5A-1) are playoff team, sitting at fourth in their league. However, nothing is final yet.
The top three seeds (Ardmore, Altus and Del City) out of 5A-1 are seemingly locked in, which leaves one playoff spot. The owner of that spot could be decided tonight when Duncan comes to Cameron Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Demons (3-4, 2-2) currently sit at fifth in the district.
The difference between the squads is slim, which might be too close for comfort for Mac.
Despite sporting four losses, Duncan is improved from the beginning of the season and fields one of the best defenses in Class 5A, surrendering less than 20 points per game. The Demons are ranked in the top 10 of the class in fewest points allowed.
More than half of their points given up this season came against No. 2 Ardmore and No. 8 Del City, both of which scored 35 points.
"Duncan is an improved team," Mac coach Brett Manning said. "I think they're finally starting to see Coach Benson's program cycling through, and I think they're getting the benefits of that. They've done a really good job, and their kids play hard. It's going to be a challenge.
"We're going to have to do our job. Our offensive line is going to have to play with a good technique, and Nick's (Mahan) gonna have to find those holes and maybe make holes when there's not some."
The Duncan offense seems to have found its groove as well.
The Demons scored only 49 points through the first three games of the season, but district play has given them new life. Duncan is averaging 37 points per game against district competition.
The Demons have accomplished this mainly via a punishing ground attack — something that's given the Highlanders trouble this season.
Regardless of the outcome, Manning expects a physical ballgame.
"I can't predict the score, I wish I could, but I think we're going to play really hard and they're going to play really hard," Manning said. "I expect it to be another great MacArthur-Duncan game.
"They're 79 percent run, so that's going to be the biggest deal — to stop that first."