| MacArthur wins city title
Graham fuels Highlanders by Ike, 24-9 BY NICK LIVINGSTON SPORTS WRITER NLIVINGSTON@LAWTON-CONSTITUTION.COM Darius Graham made sure MacArthur went home with the city championship trophy. In the Highlanders’ 24-9 win over Eisenhower on Friday night in Cameron Stadium, Graham had 107 yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns, and that was all with a heavily taped left ankle. “I’m kinda sore, but I feel real good,” Graham said after the game. But don’t let that final score fool you, this game was very close early on. Eisenhower jumped out to a 6-0 lead at the end of the first quarter when Tae Douglas scored on a 7-yard run with :16 left in the quarter. However, that would be the final time Ike would find paydirt. Early on the Eagles also jumped on the Macmen defensively, forcing them to punt on their first four possessions. And on that fourth punt attempt, Tyrone Beverly broke thru and blocked the kick, giving the Eagles the ball at the Mac 14. That play would lead to Douglas’ eventual score. Daniel Schwarz would hit a 24-yard field goal for Mac, and Brandon Schmidt would tack on a 30-yarder for Ike as the teams traded three points, however, neither defense broke. The Eagles had excellent opportunities to get more points, but a missed field goal and a stalled drive led to a 9-3 lead at halftime. “We just left 10 points on the board in the first half and in a game like this you can’t afford to do that,” Ike head coach Boone Copeland said. Things changed quickly after the intermission, as the Highlanders went on a long drive on their first possession, only to have a field goal blocked by the Eagles. After another Ike punt, the Highlanders put together a 10-play, 50-yard drive capped by a 13-yard Graham touchdown. “It was nothing in particular,” Mac head coach Brett Manning said. “We found a few things that worked, obviously, and tried to stick with that a little more. At first, we had the letdown that we were trying so hard not to have, but that’s just the way it goes.” But talking to the junior back who scored that touchdown and it’s a very different story. “Coach Manning just gave us a pep talk,” Graham said. “He got me riled up, I got krunk (excited) and just went.” A big part of that was shifting from a middle attack to more of an outside running attack that opened things up for Graham. “The middle was open a couple times, but once they saw me run up the middle a couple of times, I had to bounce it to the outside,” he said. Meanwhile, the Eagles couldn’t find their way on offense, collecting just 18 of their 134 rushing yards in the second half as the Highlanders continued to sniff out the option with Demarco Coleman and Adrian Mc-Donald. “In the second half we just couldn’t run the ball as well,” Copeland said. “They just kinda whipped us up front.” And as the Highlanders stuffed the Eagles on defense, things stated to open up on offense as Taylor Chasteen and Aaron Finley started connecting to the tune of 166 yards on 13 catches. Chasteen finished 24 for 31 for 214 and a score. It was that score which made Manning the happiest. Without standout tight ends Quinton Paras and Dewayne Sanford, the middle was lacking a big body. However, Andre Dozier was there to fill the void and caught Chasteen’s 18-yard touchdown strike. “Andre Dozier came in and played real well,” Manning said. “He had to go in there and play and he came out with a bunch of big catches and the touchdown.” Coleman finished with 71 yards on 17 carries while McDonald had 54 yards on 21 carries and was 5 for 17 in the passing game for 99 yards. With district play starting next week, Mac travels to Ardmore while Eisenhower plays host to Norman North, this last city game is the final tune-up before the real season begins. “I’m proud of our kids,” Manning said. “It was not nearly as sharp as I would have liked to have been. You have to give credit to Eisenhower, they did a good job, they played hard. We are happy for our kids on an off night to come away with a win.” As for the Eagles, even in this loss there is something positive as Ike was able to play close with the No. 4-Highlanders for much of the game. “We saw a lot of positives,” Copeland said. “We still have a long way to go, but I think at the end of the day and the end of the season we have the chance to be a really good football team, and that’s what we are looking for.”  JEFF DIXON/STAFF MacArthur’s Aaron Finley gets in the clear after catching a pass from quarterback Taylor Chasteen during the first half of Friday’s intra-city game at Cameron Stadium. Finley caught 13 passes for 166 yards to help the Highlanders earn a 24-9 victory to clinch the city championship.  JEFF DIXON/STAFF ABOVE: MacArthur High School receiver T.J. Turner (8) battles for extra yardage as Eisenhower defensive back Nick Shegog tries to bring him to the turf during Friday night’s intracity matchup at Cameron Stadium. The Highlanders held on for a 24-9 win to claim their first city championship since 2008.  BELOW: MacArthur defensive end Derek Block (24) dives in vain to trip up Eisenhower quarterback Adrian McDonald (11) during the first half of Friday night’s game at Cameron Stadium
This was what happened to Eisenhower quarterback Adrian McDonald most of the evening as the MacArthur defense and Derek Block (34) held him to 54 yards rushing in a 24-9 win for Mac. |
