When MacArthur and Duncan meet for the 48th time on Friday night, Matt Woods won’t be holding back.
This matchup carries great significance for the starting left guard, but not only because the Highlanders need the win to guarantee themselves a favorable position in the District 5A-1 standings. For Woods, this rivalry goes much deeper than that.
After all, he is one of the few players in the rivalry’s rich history to see it from both sides of the field.
Woods spent most of childhood living and attending school in Duncan, but halfway through his sophomore year, it was time for a change.
The promise of being closer to his siblings and becoming a member of a perennial football power in Class 5A was too big of an opportunity to pass up, so he made the move to the easternmost high school in Lawton.
“One of the main reasons was because my brothers were going to school here at MacArthur, and I had no family living in Duncan,” Woods said. “I thought I had more opportunities (football wise) here at MacArthur.”
Although Woods moved, he is never too far away from the bonds he built with the Demon football players. Those connections are still as strong as the day he left the 15th-largest school in Class 5A.
However, he hasn’t gotten a pass from his friends for transferring to a rival school.
Woods is often on the receiving end of friendly trash talk from his former teammates, and with the Demons off to their best start since 1997, the jabs are more prominent than ever.
“I hang out in Duncan a lot, so I get an earful of it every time I go to town,” Woods said. “It goes both ways. We just talk about the scores and who we think is going to match up well against each other. Hunter Jump is a kid who went to school (at Mac) and wrestled for us, and he moved over (to Duncan) and will be lined up against me on Friday night.
“They think their defense is going to shut us out. They said we might score one or two touchdowns on them, and that’s something they all kind of agree on. They do have a good defense this year, I’m not going to knock them, but I know what our offense is capable of.”
Zane Mayes is among the Demons who Woods said dishes out the majority of the playful squabble.
Although it is just fun and games, Woods said trash talk can be taken out of context sometimes, so he and his friends have set clear boundaries to avoid accidentally offending each other.
“My buddy Zane is an outside linebacker, so I’ll get a dose of him on Friday as well,” Woods said. “And I play defensive line, so I’ll be able to tackle him when he’s playing running back. He’s always talking about how he’s going to truck me. I told him, ‘If you truck me, I’ll be there to shake your hand once the play is over because that’s not something that happens a lot.’
“There’s not too much crap talk between us because we’ve been friends for so long, and we’ve been doing it our whole lives. We know where our boundaries are and what we can and can’t say.”
Another Duncan player Woods calls a close friend is the Demons’ star running back Jonathon Babineaux.
Unfortunately, he won’t have a chance to lay a hit on Babineaux one last time.
The senior suffered an untimely ACL tear against El Reno on Oct. 12, ending his season and high school career. Babineaux was a major part of Duncan’s revival this season, leading the team in rushing while also being a force on defense at the linebacker position.
Being the good friend he is, Woods wasted little time checking in with Babineaux after learning his fate. Although he knew Babineaux’s absence against Mac would help the Highlanders tremendously in finishing at third in the district, Woods said he wanted to play his former team at its best.
“Babineaux has been one of my really good friends since 6th grade,” Woods said. “I called him that next day after I found out he had hurt himself and talked to him about it before he knew it was torn. I felt really bad for the guy. The way he put it to me, he didn’t really think he was going to come back anyway. He described the pain as a 9 out of 10, and he said it was really bad and he could barely walk on it. He felt it was torn before the MRI.
“On paper, it looks good because Babineaux was one of their better players, for sure, and a really good running back. It looks better for us, but I still wish he could be out there playing against us on Friday.”
Despite that, Woods’ excitement to reunite with his former teammates on the gridiron hasn’t diminished in the slightest.
Woods was a force at defensive end against Duncan last season, helping Mac hold the Demons to only 200 yards rushing on 50 carries, about 4 yards per carry.
He’s been waiting to quench his thirst for the destruction of Duncan’s offense ever since.
“Last year, Week 8 was one of the greatest nights of my life,” Woods said. “Beating Duncan and beating my best friends from that team that I grew up with (was surreal). I’ve been looking forward to it and counting down the days since last year. I can’t even put that feeling into words when I get to go out there and play with my family on this team and some friends I had at Duncan.”
That game took place at Cameron Stadium, and because of recent district reshuffling, Mac will host the contest again this season.
Although homefield advantage is always an advantage for a district rivalry, the reshuffling cost Woods his last chance to play his former team at his former stadium.
Despite Woods’ desire to play at Haliburton Stadium in Duncan once more, he has come to accept Cameron Stadium as his one true football home.
“Haliburton Stadium was a good stadium, and I wanted to play there this year just so I could play in that stadium one last time,” Woods said. “The more I think about it, though, the more I’m happier we’re playing at Cameron because I feel really comfortable there. That’s where I’ve been playing these past two years, and that’s where I’ve made a family with these guys.
“There’s a lot of memories there, and I’m excited to make more.”
Woods certainly has fond memories of his time at Duncan, but he said the change was for the best.
When he left the Demons program, he was looking for more than just another football program.
He wanted a culture change. A place where no matter how bad the circumstances, they were never too much to overcome for a collective effort.
He’s gotten that and more from Mac over the past year and a half. He’s transformed into something greater than he ever thought he could become on his own.
He became a Highlander.
“Going back to Duncan my freshman and sophomore years, when we got in the fourth quarter and were losing by 21 points, the team kind of gave up and everything fell apart,” Woods said. “That wasn’t something I really liked — I wanted to keep going and push forward. That’s something MacArthur is known for, never giving up despite the odds. Last week, we made a comeback from 10 points down at halftime.
“That’s what being a Highlander means to me.”