Both the Altus High Bulldogs and Lawton MacArthur Highlanders have been surprises to at least some people.

The two teams will get together for a District 5A-1 game Friday night at Cameron University Stadium in Lawton. Kick off is set for 7:30 p.m.

Two publications had the Bulldogs placing seventh in the eight team district. To the surprise of those prognosticators, Altus is the only unbeaten team left in the district. The Bulldogs are 5-2 overall and 4-0 in the district, one game ahead of El Reno and Deer Creek.

Altus has the inside shot at becoming the district champions. A victory over MacArthur, and a win on Halloween night against Deer Creek will give the Bulldogs the district title. Even if Altus loses to MacArthur, wins over Deer Creek and Chickasha on the final week of the regular season will send the district championship to the Bulldogs.

But Altus High head coach Lyn Hepner said he hasn’t really talked to the team about those scenarios.

“We’ve just talked about beating MacArthur,” Hepner said. “We just want to take care of it one game at a time. It’s in the back of everyone’s mind. I guess by talking about it I some how subconsciously think it might take our mind off of the task at hand.”

Most believe the Highlanders have more talent than any one in the district. It was not long ago some of those same people said the race for District 5A-1 was for second place reasoning that it was automatic the Highlanders would walk away with the district title.

But recently MacArthur, who was ranked third in class 5A, have fallen on tough times. The injury bug struck the Highlander camp. Running back/linebacker Javon Harris (6-0, 196, Sr.) was sidelined with a foot injury and missed the El Reno game while two starting offensive linemen were lost for the season.

With those three starters out, MacArthur lost to El Reno 31-14 two weeks ago. Last week Harris returned, but four turnovers proved to be costly in a surprising 31-28 loss to Duncan.

The Demons returned a fumble 75 yards for a touchdown and an interception 70 yards for a score. In the second quarter with Mac leading 14-10, coach Ernie Manning decided to go on a fourth and one call from the Highlanders 19 yard line. The Demons stopped the Highlanders and turned that opportunity into a touchdown.

With that, the Highlanders are a desperate football team. A loss Friday night would put them in danger of not getting into the playoffs.

“They’re looking down the barrel of three losses, Hepner said. “They were highly ranked, thinking of a state championship. They have all of those athletes and they have a great coaching staff. And it’s an absolute must win. What else could stack up against us. It makes it a great challenge for us.”

If any word describes the Highlander it is speed. MacArthur is loaded with speed on both sides of the ball.

They run the spread offense and have a balanced attack. Harris is the leading rusher with 670 yards on 77 carries for an 8.7 average and 14 touchdowns.

Senior quarterback Ryan John has competed 135 passes in 221 attempts for 1.756 yards and 16 touchdowns. Harris has caught 22 passes for 287 yards and two TDs. Wide receiver Jarrod Purser had 20 catches for 336 yards and four touchdowns.

A lot of their offense is to get Harris in a one-on-one situation.

“They would like for him to be out in space with the ball,” Hepner said. “He’s proved he can run over or run around you. Having said that, they have others that are also very explosive.”

Defensively, the Highlanders line up in the odd stack defense similar to the Bulldogs.

“We are technically playing the same defense,” Hepner said. “Teams sometimes have different personalities, the coordinators personality are different and personnel dictates how you play. They basically line up in the same thing, but they play it a tad bit different. Last year they would blitz their linebacker every play. They haven’t done that much this year.”

So what are the key’s for the Bulldogs?

“We have to know where 20 (Harris) is all of the time,” Hepner said. “We have to control them (their offense) and we have to answer back. It would be good to keep the ball out of their offenses hands. We have to execute and chip away. We’ve had big plays too, so we need to answer back with a big play or two. We learned last week that turnovers can kill you, so we need to minimize those. We can’t repeat the performances of the last two weeks. We need to have sharper plays. We need to get into the face of that quarterback because he is a good passer. But I feel good because we have practiced and prepared well.”

Bulldog notes: Altus is still unranked in this week’s Daily Oklahoman and Associated Press polls. However, El Reno a team with a same record (5-2) and a team who the Bulldogs have defeated, is ranked 9th.

All three linebackers had excellent games last week against Northwest. Caleb Goodman had 17 tackles while Ryan Feller and Tyler George had 16 and 15 stops respectively.

Sophomore cornerback Bob Laub has a broken pinkie finger and his play may be limited. Junior Gerard Harris is expected to start against MacArthur.

It’s senior night at Lawton MacArthur. Therefore “That Altus Band” performance will be after the game toward the press box side of the stadium.