Mac out to rebound after loss to Bombers

Fall break offers an opportunity for families to wind down before the hectic holiday season, however, if you have a football player in your family you are well aware that fall break is also a time for practices, important practices for games that will help complete the state football playoff pairings.

The question pops up every year, are players going to be able to focus on practice while they are on a different schedule and routine?

“We came out here and had a really good practice,” Mac coach Brett Manning said after a spirited Monday session. “This group has done a good job all season staying focused and getting the things we needed to complete.”

After a good week of practice the Highlanders went to Midwest City Friday and came away on the short end of a 42-7 loss. This will be a game that will be hard for the Mac coaches, players and fans to figure out. The Highlanders were 6-0 entering Friday’s game while the Bombers were 3-3 and struggling at times to get their offense going.

Mac had its chances early to get something on the board but mistakes kept the offense from finding a rhythm and the longer the Bombers hung around, the worse it got for the Highlanders.

MWC finally got on the board with a short touchdown run early in the second quarter. Mac then got a big punt from Braden Brown that pinned the Bombers inside their 20-yard-line.

But a MWC receiver was able slip behind the secondary and while Trey Williams was able to chase the receiver down and prevent a score on that play, the Bombers scored two plays later for a 14-0 lead.

The lead went to 21-0 as the Bombers put together a good drive to open the second half and another short drive followed and it was 28-0 and the Highlanders were left wondering just what happened.

The outcome of the Mac game left Elgin atop the District 5A-1 standings with a 4-0 district mark and a 7-0 overall record. The Owls will visit Duncan Friday as they try to continue their winning ways.

The road doesn’t get any easier for Mac as it hosts big, physical El Reno Friday at Cameron Stadium. Mac, El Reno and Midwest City are tied at 3-1 in district action entering this week’s key game.

Also in 5A-1 action, Altus beat Duncan, 33-14. Along with the ER-Mac game, also on the schedule this week in 5A-1 will be Altus visiting Noble.

In other Lawton-area action, Class 6A(II) power Deer Creek-Edmond raced past Lawton High, 49-7, and Eisenhower cranked up its offense in a 60-32 victory at Cameron Stadium.

Cache put together a good outing even though a late Bulldogs’ rally fell short against Weatherford, 23-14. The Eagles owned a 21-0 lead before the Bulldogs struck on a 69-yard TD pass from Tyler Harbin to Nick Robinson who took a short pass and then raced down the home sideline to score. Later a bad snap on a punt gave the Eagles a safety but the Cache defense got a stop and this time quarterback Tyler Harbin found RJ Samuels who made a good catch in the end zone for a TD. Ben Angiel added his second PAT and the Bulldogs were within reach.

Cache had one last chance late in the game but the Eagles got a first down and were able to eventually run out the clock.

In other 11-man games, Frederick beat Comanche, 37-15, in a battle of the two area 2A teams; Marlow rolled over Douglass, 64-7; North Rock Creek beat Anadarko, 48-20; Walters had little trouble with Carnegie, 61-16, and Mangum beat Empire, 44-20.

In eight-man action Cyril blanked Central High, 46-0; Mt. View-Gotebo had no trouble with Bray-Doyle, 46-0; and Tipton beat Grandfield, 50-0.

While El Reno-Mac is one of the headliner games this week, for Class A fans their key matchup has Apache visiting Walters in what appears to be for the A-2 title as both are 3-0 in district. The Blue Devils are 6-0 while Apache comes in at 5-1 after an open date last week.

This week Eisenhower will have an open date to prepare for a key battle Oct. 26 against Guthrie.

Lawton High has another tough test this week with a home game Friday against Choctaw.

Other games this week include the following: Cache at John Marshall; Mount Saint Mary at Anadarko; Marlow at Sulphur; Crooked Oak at Frederick; Little Axe at Comanche; and Carnegie at Empire.

Eight-man games this week include: Alex at Cyril; Central High at Waurika; Geary at Grandfield; Ryan at Temple; and the big matchup of the week, Tipton at Mt. View-Gotebo.