MacArthur receiver Michelle Artzberger (2) dashes past Lawton High’s Elijah Reyes (15) and Demarcus Andrews (1) last Friday.
MacArthur football coach Brett Manning met with The Lawton Constitution’s Kevin Green on Sunday ahead of the Highlanders’ first road contest of the season against Class 4A No. 12 Clinton (1-1) at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Manning discussed Mac’s heartbreaking loss to city rival Lawton High, Nasir Kemper’s return, freshmen and JV results and the weekly Sunday schedule.
Week 2 debrief
It wasn’t the ideal ending to an overall good performance for the Highlanders.
Mac led for most of the game against LHS, but it was the Wolverines who escaped with a 41-32 win. The Highlanders led by 11 points going into the fourth quarter but were outscored 20-0 to close the game.
Manning said despite the unfortunate ending, he felt the players played about as well as they could.
“I was really proud of the effort that we had and the intensity that we showed,” Manning said. “After watching film, I think we improved a lot from Week 1 to Week 2. We still have a ways to go and still have people learning, but I really like how we went out there and competed and played a tough, fun game.
“When you have some perspective and take a step back and look at how we’re progressing, whether we end up being 0-3 or 3-0, the goal is to progress and be a good team by district time. I’m happy with the path that we’re on.”
Mac, trailing 35-32, had the ball on the LHS 8-yard line with only a few seconds remaining, but quarterback Racer Felter was intercepted at the goal line as time expired by the Wolverines’ Chateau Reed, who returned the pass 100 yards for a walk-off touchdown.
Turning the ball over at such a critical juncture can be devastating to any quarterback, but Felter handled the situation with great poise.
Manning attributed Felter’s confidence to the growth he’s undergone since last season.
Felter has thrown for 314 yards and two touchdowns, completing about 64.1 percent of his passes. He’s also rushed for 182 yards and five touchdowns, putting his yardage total at 496 through two games.
“Racer has been so solid through two games,” Manning said. “There’s such a big difference, I think, between last year and this year. He’s grown up, he’s more confident and he’s doing everything we asked him to do.
“I don’t think (the interception) was his fault, and it was a desperate moment. The only thing I told him is on second down, we can’t scramble, and we can’t take sacks. We practiced all this stuff, and he knows the situation. He did a really good job and gave us a chance on all of his throws, we just weren’t able to complete that one.”
Kemper set for return
Nasir Kemper, who was slated to be the starting running back heading into the summer, is set to make his season debut on Friday night against Clinton.
Kemper suffered a broken arm during late spring.
Kemper will join the existing rotation of DShaun Davis and Jordan Rollison in the backfield, which is something Manning said he is excited about.
“We’re going to ease him in — those other guys have earned some time,” Manning said. “What people don’t see or what people don’t understand is (Davis and Rollison) are our only two backs in practice, and we go really fast in practice and get a lot of reps. We ask a lot of our backs in practice, too, because they have to go full speed 10 yards past the line of scrimmage on every carry. They’re doing that, and they’re hustling back and doing it again.”
Manning said though Kemper hasn’t seen any game action, his fitness level won’t be an issue come Friday night.
“I think he’s in pretty good shape, and he’s been doing our extra conditioning,” Manning said. “He’s been practicing, he just can’t be full-contact. For the last two weeks, he’s been padded up and doing a lot of the stuff we ask our running backs to do.”
Mac has rushed for 395 yards and eight touchdowns on 93 carries — about 4.25 yards per carry — through two weeks.
Highlanders sweep Ike
Mac’s varsity squad took care of Ike during Week 1, 39-7, and the freshman and JV teams followed suit the following Monday on Sept. 3, allowing the Highlanders to sweep the Eagles.
The freshmen defeated Ike, 16-13, and the JV squad completed the season sweep with a dominant 26-6 win in the nightcap.
“It was exciting for our 9th graders because Eisenhower might be the only team all throughout middle school that they never beat,” Manning said. “Eisenhower beat them 6th, 7th and 8th grade, so it was good for them to finally get the win.”
Manning said he’s optimistic about the Highlanders’ freshman class.
“We’ve got one guy who’s going with us right now doing some kickoff returns, Arzhonte Dallas,” Manning said. “And we may have another player or two who we may work in.”
Sunday film day
Mac players get a day of rest on Saturdays, but once Sunday rolls around, it’s back to work for the Highlanders.
The coaches meet on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. to discuss film of the previous week and of the next opponent, and players arrive shortly after at 2 p.m. Players are treated to a lunch of fried chicken before film sessions begin.
The coaches are expected to have all their film watched and their player grades completed before the Sunday afternoon meetings, so they must utilize their time wisely on Saturdays, juggling film study and watching college football.
“Some people stay up all night on Saturday night, and some people come up here and work on Saturday morning,” Manning said. “We’re all expected to contribute and talk about last week and talk about this week.
“When the kids come in, we watch special teams video and then offense and then defense. It’s not mandatory, so there’s no punishment if somebody cannot be here. After that, coaches will get together and finish our meeting, and we’re usually out of here by 5.”