Most years, Lawton Public Schools’ (LPS) football fans have to wait at least a week, sometimes two into the season before getting their first taste of intra-city action. This year, all three of the LSP high school football teams were on the field Week O, including one of the always anticipated rivalry games. For the 2024 edition of the city rivalry series, the MacArthur High School (MHS) Highlanders took care of business and repeated as City Champions, while the Eisenhower High School (EHS) Eagles and Lawton High School (LHS) Wolverines provided one of the better games that will be played on Cameron Stadium’s turf this year.
Because of changes in districts and schedules, one of the greatest and oldest rivalries in the state took place the first week of the football season this year. The Eagles and Wolverines took the field on August 30 and much like the 2023 edition, it was a great game by both schools. The hype leading up to the game only helped the competition. Eisenhower moved back up to 6A-II this summer and returned a few of the best athletes in town in senior runner back Rashaad Hurt and senior wide receiver Serri Sheridan, while Lawton High began a new era, dropping down to 5A and starting their first season under head coach Lorenzo Williams. Coach Williams has brought a new culture and brought athletes from other sports back to the football field, making them almost 90-strong at summer workouts.
From the upcoming kickoff, you could already tell it was going to be an exciting game between the Eagles and Wolverines. LHS forced a turnover on the second play of the game and gave themselves an early lead as senior running back Nathan Jones and the offense benefitted from the short field with Jones eventually punching it in from less than a yard out. After a failed onside kick, it was the Eagles who received good field position for their next drive. Big runs by senior quarterback Charlie Trachte and Hurt eventually led to a Trachte quarterback sneak to tie the game at six, which is where it sat at the end of quarter number one. The Wolverines got back on the scoreboard at the start of the second period. Senior Tavaris Deans, who is a standout for LHS hoops and has not played organized football since middle school, made a pair of big plays on the scoring drive, first skying for a catch to earn a first down and then second on a screen pass where he scampered 27-yards through the Eagle defense and dove across the pylon for the score. A successful 2-point conversion by Jones made it 14-6 in favor of Big Red with 11:28 left in the opening half. EHS’s big-play-guy, Sheridan answered with a long kick return on the ensuing kickoff to help his offense start in Wolverine territory, but the drive would stall and LHS forced a turnover on downs. Just a few plays later, Sheridan came up big again with an interception and long return down to the 23-yard line. That led to an eventual 37-yard field goal by EHS sophomore kicker Bryan Frias to make it a 14-9 game. After getting the ball back the Eagles relied on the legs of Hurt and Sheridan again and after both provided big runs, Hurt finished the drive off with a 10-yard score where he broke multiple tackles and carried two LHS defenders into the endzone. A failed 2-point attempt set the score at 15-14 and, after a few miscues by each team, the half ended.
Eisenhower started the second half with a bang, stopping LHS on a fake punt attempt and then getting a 55-yard receiving touchdown from the speedster Sheridan; the ensuing point after attempt made the score 22-14. Lawton High answered right back after big runs by Jones and senior quarterback Nate Hawzipta set up a little trickeration for the Wolverines. Off a reverse flea-flicker, Hawzipta found senior Nakell Adams in the endzone for the score, but a failed 2-point attempt would leave the score at 22-20. The back-and-forth action continued as on the very next drive Trachte connected with Sheridan on another 50-plus score, showcasing the speed of the wide receiver. Entering the fourth quarter, EHS led 28-20 after Sheridan’s second score. The Wolverines kept punching back as Jones powered his way down to the eight yard line and sophomore Keiston Rosado punched it in from there with the successful 2-point conversion tying the game at 28. Eisenhower went into their 4-minute offense mode and started chipping away at the LHS defense on the ground. While the goal was to eat up some clock, the electricity of the Eagles could not stay quiet as Hurt ripped off a huge touchdown run after escaping a tackler at the 50-yard line and then weaving through the Wolverine defense. The ensuing point after was good and EHS led 35-28 with 4:54 left in the game. LHS had one more drive to try and even up the tally again, but a huge holding call on what would have been a 40-plus yard run by Jones and then an interception by IKE’s Devion Bailey (12) sealed the win for the Eagles, all they had to do was get in the victory formation and run the clock down. Hurt finished the game with 21 carries and 136 yards rushing to go along with his two scores; Jones had 101 total yards for the Wolverines.
After playing new rival Elgin in Week 0, the MacArthur Highlanders entered the chat for the City Championship when they faced the Eagles and their MHS alumni head coach for their week one meeting. Another big crowd came out to support the intra-city battle that featured two very explosive rushing attacks. Both teams turned the ball over on their first drives, but only the Eagles capitalized on offense early. After a MHS interception, Trachte found Sheridan on a short out route and the speedster took it the rest of the way for a 40-yard touchdown. Trailing 7-0, the Highlanders kept it on the ground for their next drive and it paid off with six. Runs by senior Marquis Harris and junior Joziah Thomas got the ball inside the 5-yard line and then junior quarterback Aivan Locklin punched it in to tie the game after the extra point. EHS put together a methodical drive right before the end of the first quarter and with the start of the second, regained the lead on a Trachte 2-yard score. The Highlanders answered right back with Harris and Thomas toting the rock for big runs and Locklin connecting with junior Josh Rushing for a 20-yard catch; Harris put the finishing touches on the drive with a 6-yard scamper to take their first lead of the game with the extra point, 14-13. The see-saw game continued on the next drive with the Eagles marching down the field fueled by a long run by junior Jabari Sheppard. MHS had them stopped on fourth down but a penalty extended the drive and allowed Trachte to connect with sophomore Brandon Goldsmith for an 18-yard score, making it 20-13 after the point after try. MacArthur did not panic and kept the ball rolling on the ground thanks to great push on the offensive line of seniors Joe Warner, Jeramiah Fields, JaMarcus Jarvis, and Chris Fiailoa and junior Walter Rhodes. Harris had great powerful runs on the drive, but Thomas was the one who finished off the drive to give MHS back the lead 21-20. The MAC defense held tough on the next drive and put together an impressive last-minute drive capped by a 51-yard score by Harris, giving them a 28-20 lead at the half.
The halftime break did not slow down the Highlander’s rushing attack. After a turnover on downs by EHS, MAC drove down the field and sophomore Connor Clayborn got in on the fun by scoring from a few yards out to make it 34-20 and then a 2-point conversion by Lockling made it 36-20 in favor of the team from the east side of town. Harris added another score midway through the third quarter and then Locklin scampered for a 13-yard score at the start of the fourth to make it 50-20. Thomas capped the night off with another score and the Big MAC defense pitched a shutout in the second half to get the 57-20 win, their 15th straight win over the Eagles. Harris totaled 200 yards with a pair of scores while the Highlanders totaled over 500 yards on the ground as a team. The win set up a showdown with the Wolverines during week 2 to determine if MHS would repeat as City Champs or if Lawton High would play spoilers and there would be a three-way split in the 2024 edition of the City Championship.
MacArthur looked to continue their strong defense and running game into their battle with the Wolverines, but the new-look Lawton High squad had their eyes on playing spoiler. Both defenses made big plays early as MHS junior Adam Auston got an interception on the first drive of the game, but LHS forced a fumble on the following possession to get the Big Red Offense back on the field. After forcing a punt, MAC went back to the well that helped them beat EHS and pounded the ball on the ground all the way to the endzone with Harris punching it in for his first score of the night. A 50-plus yard pass to Rushing fueled the next scoring drive for the Highlanders with Harris finishing off the drive on the ground for his second score of the contest. Down 14-0, the Wolverines needed to get on the board the next drive and they did. A slow methodical drive led by the running game and aided by a MHS penalty in the endzone led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Jones to start the second quarter. MAC answered with another scoring drive led by a long reception by senior Boux DeLong and capped by the third score of the half from Harris after he dashed and juked through the LHS defense, making it 21-7. After both teams forced turnovers, LHS went to sophomore Nijuon Polk at quarterback, backed up in their own endzone. Polk lofted one up to senior Pene Vaisagote who took it all the way down to the Highlander 35-yard line. The magic would end there as MHS senior Aidan Vaughn picked off Polk in the endzone to give his offense the ball pack with 2:31 left in the half. MAC went back to the ground and Locklin put the bow on a great half with a 27-yard touchdown run to make it 27-7 at the half.
The Highlanders started the second half with a bang as Locklin connected with Rushing on a 42-yard score through the air, and then on the next MHS drive, Locklin threw it up to junior Kenyon Gabrial, who made a great catch and took it the rest of the way for a 54-yard score, making it 41-7. After a long kick return down to the 1-yard line by LHS junior Deauvyahn Young, Jones gave the Wolverines their second score of the ball game. Harris answered for MHS with his fourth rushing touchdown of the game, making it 48-14, which was followed by a 36-yard run out of the WildWolverine by Vaisagote. The MAC Truck siren went off one more time when Clayborn found his way into the endzone after a run-the-clock drive for the Highlanders to make the final score 55-21 and keep the General’s Trophy on the east side of town. The Highlander offense was once again very effective on the ground, rushing for over 400 yards with 190 of those coming from Harris; Locklin was also 8-10 for 149 yards and two scores through the air.
MacArthur got to celebrate winning their second straight City Championship for just one short week as all three teams kicked off district play in mid September. We wish all three best of luck the rest of the season and can not wait to see the Highlanders, Eagles, and Wolverines make the playoffs in 2024.