Cameron Stadium was a subtropical paradise for Lawton High on Friday night, and the end zone was the luxury resort.
The teams battled through constant rain showers, but it was the Wolverines who hit Class 5A No. 5 MacArthur with the perfect storm, scoring 20 unanswered in the fourth quarter to defeat the Highlanders, 41-32, and move one step closer to claiming their second-straight city championship.
The win propelled LHS to not only coach Ryan Breeze's first victory, but also to the program’s 800th win in school history, becoming the first team in Oklahoma to do so.
“We wanted to be the first one to get it and to get it over a city rival,” Breeze said of the historic milestone. “We were really lucky we had it against MacArthur because we could’ve had a lull, and things didn’t go our way in Week 1. But we were able to get up for the intercity game, and we talked city championship all week.
“Hopefully this is what propels us moving forward.”
Chateau Reed, a move-in from Alaska, sealed the win when he intercepted MacArthur’s Racer Felter on the goal line and returned it 100 yards for a walk-off touchdown.
Reed, who also caught two passes for 96 yards — including a 54-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter — said it was the perfect way to cap off his breakout night.
“I just did what I was told, and good things happened,” Reed said. “When I caught it, I saw nothing but green, and I was like, ‘Nah, I’m not letting anybody catch me,’ so I was going to go. Speed kills, you know.”
With the ball on the LHS 8-yard line and no reliable kicker to nail a game-tying field goal, the Highlanders chose to go for the win on fourth down rather than try to force overtime.
Mac had driven to the 5 with a mere 23 ticks left before the LHS defense flexed its muscle, stuffing Felter for a 3-yard loss on first down and forcing incomplete passes on the next two plays.
Felter, who finished with 265 yards total and three touchdowns, looked to one of his favorite targets, Weston Golson, in the left corner of the end zone for the game-winning score.
Golson had been the Highlanders’ man all night, catching seven passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns, but Reed was prepared and read the play perfectly, leading to the game-clinching pick-six.
“We knew they were going to throw the fade to (Golson), and that’s exactly what they did,” Breeze said. “That’s why we put Chateau in to defend that. They lobbed it on fourth down, and I just wanted him to knock it down, but he picked it and he was gone.”
Although the Wolverines’ fourth-quarter run was impressive, it didn’t come without some luck.
Late in the third quarter, with Mac holding a 26-15 lead, two game-changing penalties helped keep LHS’s drive alive.
First it was a roughing the punter, then it was a pass interference on the ensuing third down. Those infractions allowed for Miles Davis to race 15 yards untouched for a touchdown, bringing the Wolverines within five.
Davis finished with 235 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 42 carries.
“Good thing the ball doesn’t way too much,” Breeze joked. “He took a pounding, and he’s a phenomenal player. He’s a fighter.”
Felter responded with a rushing score of his own to push the Highlanders’ advantage back to 11 with 1:05 left in the third, but their bad luck carried over into in the final frame.
Facing a 4th-and-6 situation at Mac’s 22-yard and trailing 32-27 with 7:30 remaining, LHS quarterback Eric Wiley zipped a ball toward the end zone, but his pass fell incomplete.
The Highlanders were called for defensive holding, though, and Wiley made them pay for it shortly after with a 1-yard touchdown run with 6:18 to go, giving the Wolverines a 35-32 lead with 6:18 to go.
Wiley completed 8 of 21 passes for 134 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
Those were only two of several devastating penalties assessed at Mac’s expense. In all, the Highlanders racked up 120 yards on nine penalties, seven of which were 15 yarders.
Needless to say, Mac coach Brett Manning wasn’t pleased with the untimely calls going against his team.
“I’m pretty disappointed in the ways things went, and our players and coaches have nothing to do with that,” Manning said. “This was a game that meant nothing and makes us better, win or lose. It’s a loss, but it’s not a devastating loss. We played a tough game against a good opponent and ended up on the bottom when all was said and done, but it’s still a positive thing for us.”
Mac (1-1) will look to bounce back on the road next week against Class 4A No. 10 Clinton. The Red Tornadoes (1-1) lost to Class 3A No. 2 Heritage Hall, 20-12, on Friday.
In the meantime, LHS (1-1) can wrap up its second-straight city championship against Eisenhower (0-2), which lost to Choctaw on Friday night, 35-14.