Altus running back Garrett Pride uses his strength to get past Lawton High defenders at Cameron Stadium on Friday night. Pride rushed for 85 yards and four touchdowns.
Lawton High will have to wait for win No. 800.
Altus bullied the Wolverines with its punishing run game, shocking LHS and its first-year head coach Ryan Breeze in a 45-35 decision at Cameron Stadium on a hot Thursday night. It was so hot, in fact, the kickoff was delayed 30 minutes by Lawton Public Schools athletic director Gary Dees.
The Bulldogs' win ended the team's seven-game losing streak to the Wolverines. Their last win over LHS came in 2006.
Altus utilized its flexbone offense to perfection, rushing for 518 yards and six touchdowns on 68 carries, equaling about 7.6 yards per carry. Izaiah Hall and Nehemiah McCaskill both surpassed the century mark on the ground, rushing for 158 and 112 yards, respectively.
The Bulldogs did not complete a pass in the 10-point victory.
Although he didn't reach 100 yards, Garrett Pride's performance was perhaps even more impressive.
The senior rushed for four touchdowns on runs of 2, 5, 8 and 25 yards, finishing with 85 yards on only 11 carries.
After falling behind by two touchdowns in the first quarter and trailing 17-14 at halftime, LHS seemed to have found its second wind to begin the second half.
After an Altus fumble, Miles Davis gave the Wolverines their first lead when he found Caleab Fuller on a halfback pass for a 42-yard touchdown.
Jeremiah Magee forced another Bulldogs turnover on Altus' next possession when he stripped Ryan Borrego and returned, giving LHS possession at the 27-yard line.
Davis then scored with his legs, finding the end zone from 2 yards out to extend the Wolverines' advantage to 27-17 with 7:07 remaining in the third.
Then things began to unravel for LHS.
Borrego atoned for his error, rumbling 24 yards to get Altus back within three points.
The Bulldogs then recovered a deep onside on the ensuing kickoff, and it was Altus from thereon.
Pride punched it in from eight yards to give the Bulldogs a 31-27 lead just before halftime, and he did it once more on the next Altus possession to put the Wolverines in a surprising two-score hole.
He then capped off his special night with a 25-yard score to seal the upset win over the No. 4 team in Class 6A-II. Altus entered the season unranked in the Class 5A AP poll.
Davis, who rushed for nearly 2,400 yards last season, struggled against the stout Altus defense, finishing with 116 yards and one touchdown on 27 carries -- less than five yards per touch.
Davis wasn't the only one who found it tough to find openings in the Bulldogs' defense, though.
In his first start of his varsity career, Eric Wiley Jr. often found himself flustered in the pocket, completing only 9 of 23 passes. He also surrendered two turnovers himself, losing a fumble and throwing an interception on back-to-back drives in the first quarter.
He finished with 140 yards passing and three touchdowns on throws of 53, 10 and 8 yards to Demarcus Andrews, Chateau Reed, and Micah Avendano, respectively. In all, LHS racked up only 307 yards of offense.
The Wolverines will try to bounce back next week when they meet city rival MacArthur at Cameron Stadium on Friday.
Meanwhile, Altus will host arch rival Vernon (Texas).