10-20-23 MacArthuR
It is homecoming weekend at Highland Park. The weather prediction is 83 degrees at kickoff on Friday with a comfortable 75 degrees when the battle is over. The 6-1 Scots host the 2-5 Irving MacArthur Cardinals.
MacAthur is the king of high school football in Irving after dispatching its in-town rivals Nimitz (27-24) and Irving High (30-28). Unfortunately for the Cardinals, those are the only two games they’ve won this season. They’ve lost to Woodrow Wilson by three, L.D. Bell by 13, Richardson by 29, Pearce by 21 and Lake Highlands by 27. After fighting the Scots, the Cardinals will close out the season against Jesuit and Berkner. Tough road ahead.
The Cardinals are led by a fast, shifty quarterback named Tyler Littleton. Keep him in your mental Roladex Friday night. He reminds me of Nimitz QB-RB-WR Pedro Maldonado, who could line up anywhere. If the Nimitz Vikings had 11 Maldonados they could have challenged the Scots last week.
But back to Littleton. In the Cardinals’ win last week over Irving, Littleton ran the ball 10 times and picked up 150 yards and two touchdowns. He also completed eight of 16 passes for 73 yards. The 15-yards per carry caught my attention. But the Cardinals have a running back with my second favorite name in district 7-6A, Maxmillian Reviere. (The best name for a Texas high school football player is our own Jedi McKnight.) Max, as I call Reviere, is a sophomore who picked up 118 yards on 15 carries last week. His 7.9 yards per carry also got my attention.
“MacArthur is a better team this season. They have more talent,” Highland Park head coach Randy Allen. “Our entire district is better, top to bottom. There is more parity.”
He’s right. Assuming the Scots and Lake Highlands make the playoffs, there is a dog fight over the final two playoff sports between Jesuit, Berkner, Pearce, MacArthur and Richardson who have mathematical chances. The only way that battle affects the Scots is that there’s a chance that when they host the Pearce Mustangs in the final district game in two weeks, Pearce may need to win that game to make the playoffs. For them, it would be the Super Bowl. And their quarterback, Presley Harper, is the second-rated 6A QB in North Texas, with 1,902 yards in passing so far this season. This is a good team.
The Scots like where they are as they prepare for this Friday’s game with MacArthur. In last Friday’s game against Nimitz, the Scots came out crisp. Quarterback Warren Peck threw four first-half touchdown passes as HP rolled up a 30-0 first quarter lead. As backups came in the Scots led at halftime, 51-13.
The most amazing visual from the Nimitz game was jack-of-all-trades Parker Thompson producing a highlight reel as he rushed three times for 107 yards and two touchdowns and then as a receiver he led the team in reception yardage with 56 yards and a touchdown on two catches. He averaged 36 yards per run and 28 yards per reception and led the team in scoring with three TDs. It was really incredible to watch.
My HPHS class is having a major reunion on Friday night so I’ll go both ways. I’ll watch the first half of the MacArthur game at Highlander Stadium then catch the second half on my phone while appearing to carry on conversations while I have a cup in one hand and my phone in the other.
But when the game is over I’ll attempt to party like I was still in high school.