MacArthur wide receiver Weston Golson (11) catches a touchdown pass in front of Lawton High defensive back Caelab Fuller (9) to give the Highlanders a 20-12 lead over Lawton High during a game earlier this month at Cameron Stadium. The Wolverines wound up winning, 41-32.
MacArthur football coach Brett Manning met with The Lawton Constitution’s Kevin Green ahead of the Highlanders’ Friday night district matchup with Western Heights (3-2). The Jets were crushed by Duncan last week, 49-7.
Manning discussed a variety of topics, including his team’s win over Southeast, the Big Mac Car and Bike Show Fundraiser and prepping for Western Heights.
Week 5 debrief
Mac finally caught a break in the schedule last week, throttling a weak Southeast team, 48-0.
In their two victories this season, the Highlanders (2-3) have outscored the opposition 87-7.
Although the Spartans came into the game with more wins than Mac, sporting a 2-2 record, their victories came against lowly Capitol Hill and Star-Spencer.
Manning said the shutout win was about what he expected heading into the contest, but the margin of victory could’ve been even greater if not for some early blunders.
“They probably aren’t as good as they were last year,” Manning said. “We had a slow start, and I didn’t really like the way we came out offensively. We made a few mistakes to start the game off, and I think we could’ve had that type of score at halftime. We did very little in the first quarter, but we recovered and had a really good second quarter.”
The Constitution incorrectly reported a stat in Friday’s game story. The story stated receiver Michelle Artzberger caught eight passes for 100 yards and four touchdowns, but he in fact finished with seven catches for 95 yards and three touchdowns.
A 5-yard touchdown pass from Racer Felter in the fourth quarter was credited to Artzberger, but it was Ryan Andrews who hauled in the score. The catch was Andrews’ only reception.
The public address announcer had said it was Artzberger who caught the touchdown pass.
The Constitution regrets the error.
Weekend fundraiser
The Highlanders celebrated their first district win of the season with the Big Mac Car and Bike Show Fundraiser on Sunday at the high school.
Registration started at 9 a.m., and the event ran until about 3:30 or 4 p.m.
DShaun Merriweather’s father came up with the idea during a recent booster club meeting. The elder Merriweather had experience in participating and running car shows, so the Mac football program made the most of it.
The Highlanders made about $800 on entries alone.
“He did all the advertising on it and went to a lot of the different motorcycle and car clubs and was able to get us a pretty good turnout,” Manning said. “I guess a month or a month and a half is considered short notice for car shows, but we ended up with about 40 cars and six or eight motorcycles. There were different categories and trophies given out. It was a pretty cool event, and I was impressed, it being my first time (at a car show).”
A dunk tank, a concession stand, a bounce house for kids and a video game trailer from the National Guard were among the amenities at the car show.
Although Manning was hesitant at first, he participated as a dunkee for the dunk tank, and the players and fans embraced their chance to send him plunging into the cold water.
“I told them I’d do the dunk tank whenever they want me to, but after I get in, I’m done — I’m going home and taking a shower,” Manning said. “I got dunked plenty of times. I did that, got done at about 2 and came back to watch the trophy presentation at the end and lock up.”
What to expect from Western Heights
Western Heights is far from a powerhouse in Class 5A, but it has shown improvement from last season.
The Jets have already surpassed their win total from last season and will look to score on upset over Mac for their fourth win.
The Highlanders defeated Western Heights, 49-0, in a game that lasted less than two hours last season.
“Western Heights is better than they were last year, and they’re better than Southeast, for sure,” Manning said. “They do some stuff on both sides of the ball that force us to work on them. They run a 3-3-stack defense, which is something we don’t see very often, so we’ll have to work on that. On the other side of the ball, they get in some creative formations. They’ll run the swinging gate in the middle of the field.”