Bombers make statement with win over MacArthur

By Jeff Harrison
Midwest City Beacon

One week made a huge difference for Midwest City.

After a feeble showing against El Reno a week earlier, the Bombers hammered previously unbeaten Lawton MacArthur 42-7 last Friday night at Rose Field.

“This is the most complete game that we’ve played this year,” said Midwest City coach Darrell Hall. “We beat a very good team tonight and it took four quarters. We’ve played a half, a quarter but never played four quarters like we did tonight. It feels great.”

The difference between the last two games was night and day. Against El Reno, Midwest City’s offense was stagnant and its defense porous. On Friday night, the Bombers were dynamic with the ball and rock solid on defense.

The Bombers (4-3, 3-1) dominated on the ground with a three-headed attack of Lasiera Laviolette, Jaylan Woody and Jahhim Mahmoud and an overpowering offensive line. Midwest City ran for 343 yards on 42 carries. Laviolette led the charge with 13 rushes for 189 yards and three touchdowns. Mahmoud had 85 yards and one score and Woody added 62 yards and one score.
Laviolette credited the offensive line for opening holes.

“The big boys opened up the line like the Red River,” Laviolette said. “They do the hard work for me, and I just go ahead and take it to the crib. I love them to death.”

Senior tackle Jacob Brunson said he was proud of their effort.

“We love the challenge, and we embraced it and put in a good hard fight,” Brunson said.

Kenneth Colston played a big part in the offensive resurgence. The senior who missed the last two games completed 8 of 13 passes for 119 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
“It feels really good to be back with my brothers and feels really good to get a win against a really good Lawton Mac team,” he said. “We caught them in the second half. We saw how they lined up and we did different things and it led to touchdowns.”

Jarvis Nash had two catches for 72 yards and one touchdown. Lincoln King, who filled in at quarterback the last two games, had three catches for 32 yards.

Midwest City’s defense was equally impressive. They allowed only 180 yards, forced two turnovers and had six tackles for loss. Keiwon Landrum was the leading tackler with 11 tackles including two tackles for loss. Aiden Brown had nine tackles, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble. Felix Fuentes also had nine tackles.

After a scoreless first quarter, Midwest City pulled ahead with a pair of rushing touchdowns in the second. Laviolette scored on a 10-yard run, and Woody added a short touchdown run.
Midwest City took a 14-0 lead at halftime.

The Bombers exploded for 28 points in the third quarter to put the game away.
Laviolette capped the opening drive of the second half with a 22-yard scoring run. A few minutes later, Colston dropped a rainbow pass to Nash who took it to the house for a 64-yard score with 6:30 in the third.

Mahmoud and Laviolette put the game out of reach with a couple of big plays. On a third-and-one play, Mahmoud picked up much more than a first down as he sliced through the defense on a 40-yard TD run. Laviolette later scored his third touchdown of the night on a 53-yard run with 1:03 left in the third. That put Midwest City ahead 42-0.

MacArthur (6-1, 3-1) avoided a shutout with a touchdown run early in the fourth. They went on to recover an onside kick but couldn’t mount a comeback.

The win keeps the Bombers in the hunt for a District 5A-1 title. Midwest City plays at Ardmore (0-7, 0-4) on Thursday night.

Elgin (7-0, 4-0) is in the driver’s seat in the district and will travel to Midwest City in the final game of the regular season.