MacArthur football coach Brett Manning met with The Lawton Constitution’s Kevin Green on Monday ahead of the Highlanders’ district opener against Class 5A No. 2 Ardmore (3-0) on Thursday.
The game was moved from its original Friday slot in anticipation of inclement weather. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
The 10-year head coach discussed a variety of topics, including his final thoughts on the Clinton loss, the formidability of the defense, Nasir Kemper’s debut and the Hammer.
The Highlanders (1-2) are looking to avoid suffering their third-straight loss this week after dropping a 31-12 decision to Class 4A No. 11 Clinton (2-1) on Friday.
Week 3 debrief
After strong performances against Eisenhower and Lawton High, Mac took a step back against the Red Tornadoes.
The Highlanders were held scoreless in the first half and committed five turnovers while also surrendering a kickoff return for a touchdown and a blocked extra point. In other words, anything that could go wrong, did go wrong.
“We had a lack of intensity, and I don’t know if that had something to do with a letdown coming off our city games,” Manning said. “We didn’t necessarily play as bad as it seemed, we just didn’t have any fire, and we didn’t play with a whole lot of emotion. They did a few things right, we did a few things wrong and it snowballed from there, and we couldn’t quite get it back.”
Manning said the loss to the Red Tornadoes might be the most disappointing loss of his tenure at Mac.
“I feel like we’ve been pretty good in the past of beating the teams we’re supposed to beat,” Manning said. “We rarely get upset. We obviously get beat by good teams some, but I don’t think I can remember ever having an edge on our opponent as big as we had against Clinton and not taking care of business.”
Back-to-back 800s
On top of all that, Mac was on the receiving end of history for the second-straight week.
LHS became the first team in Oklahoma history to reach 800 wins after defeating the Highlanders, 41-32, on Sept. 7
Coincidentally, Clinton reached the milestone against Mac as well the next week.
That is something a prestigious program like Mac doesn’t want on its resume.
“I’m glad we could help out,” Manning joked. “I would’ve liked to deny both of them, but it didn’t happen that way. Coming into a game the way we did is not acceptable, and it’s not something we want to do around here in this program. We all share the responsibility, and I think I probably feel the most myself because it’s my job to get us ready and make sure we go into the game the right way, and we didn’t. A lot of it falls on me.
“We’re going to do everything we can to hopefully come out and have a better game this week.”
Defense still showing might
The Highlanders might’ve given up 31 points, but that is a misleading stat when considering the defense’s performance.
Mac held the Red Tornadoes to only 266 yards, 10 first downs and a conversion rate of 3-of-7 on third downs. The Highlanders also forced four punts.
In comparison, Mac gained 341 yards, tallied 16 first downs and punted only twice. Clinton bested the Highlanders only in third-down conversions, with Mac finishing 3-of-12 on plays of that variety (and 1-of-3 on fourth downs).
Even when the Highlanders turned the ball over deep in their own territory, the defense managed to hold most of the time. The giveaways wore the defense down, though, leading to Clinton’s scores.
Manning said regardless of the level of play, whether it be in little league or the NFL, the team that commits the fewest turnovers usually wins.
“It’s very rare when you have five turnovers to one and you can still pull that out,” Manning said. “The defense was put in some bad spots several times, and sometimes they came through and bailed us out, and other times they couldn’t. Obviously, that’s the big statistic.”
Kemper impresses in debut
One bright spot of the Mac offense was running back Nasir Kemper.
Kemper, who played in his first game of the season on Friday night, rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown on seven carries while also catching a pass for 16 yards.
The Highlanders’ other backs, DShaun Davis and Jordan Rollison, struggled in comparison, combining for 17 yards on eight carries — about 2.1 yards per carry.
“I think he showed a lot of people how promising his career is going to be here,” Manning said of Kemper. “He hits the hole hard, and he can get through some small holes — the offensive line doesn’t have to open up huge holes for him. He’s a good inside runner, though he is a tall, lean kind of back. He’s also got the speed to get to the outside and cause some problems.
“He did exactly what people around here expected him to do.”
Although Kemper is still adjusting to game speed, Manning said he doesn’t feel he has to put a cap on the sophomore’s carries.
“We throw the ball enough this year that I don’t think he’ll be getting the 30-35 carries that we’ve seen Teddy Thomas and Nick Mahan have the last few years. Racer (Felter) throws and runs the ball enough to where I don’t think his carries will get too high.”
The Hammer
Matt Woods will be the fourth recipient of The Hammer this season.
Manning said Woods was deserving of the award because though most of the team seemed flat on Friday night, Woods was the exact opposite.
“He’s never flat,” Manning said. “He always plays with great emotion, and he got after it on the offensive line and had several pancakes.”
Last week’s holder, Zac DeLong, suffered a groin injury early in the week and was limited at practices and against Clinton. Despite that, the senior recorded seven tackles.