Sulphur’s State Runner-Up Bulldogs Begin Early Workouts In Preparation For 2025 Season
One of the best times of the year is coming fast, and if you are a Sulphur football fan, it should be an exciting ride.
The Bulldogs, fresh off a silver ball in last year’s state championship game, finished last season with a 12-2 record, losing only to eventual state champions Washington in the opener and to Lincoln Christian in the finale. In between, they mauled 12 opponents including the state champion Davis Wolves in a game largely over at the half.
Helping Sulphur achieve that level of success was an incredibly talented senior class, including two All-State recipients (Austin Garrett and Justus Gilliam) and seven players who signed collegiately to play football at the next level. They included Caden Cole, Austin Garrett, Gideon Petersen, Maddux Boyd, Justus Gilliam, Eli Vinson and Luke Linville.
“This class will go down as one of the most accomplished in school history,” said head coach Corey Cole a few weeks ago. “We are very proud of all their accomplishments and can’t wait to see what they accomplish and are ready to see what the 20252026 class does this next year.”
The Dogs opened the 2024 season, losing in a double overtime thriller to Washington, 2724, but local fans believed that Colten Cole’s field goal attempt at the end of regulation play was good, which would have given Sulphur the win.
The referees saw it differently and the Dog’s first-ever victory over the Warriors was not to be.
Sulphur then took out their frustrations in a blistering defeat of Davis at home the following week. The final verdict (42-7) could have been worse and it was Sulphur’s eighth win in nine years over the Wolves.
Davis then went on to win 13 consecutive games to capture a state title, which was a testament to their resurgence.
Sulphur’s dominating win over the Wolves was a forerunner of what would unfold the rest of the season as the team plowed through the remainder of their schedule figuratively untouched. Even in the playoffs, the Dogs ran wild, blowing out Kingfisher, Idabel and Checotah in that order by a whopping total of 187-42.
Even against, Checotah with their speedster and OU commit, Elijah Thomas, who scored on pass receptions of 95, 62 and 75 yards, the Dogs were unstoppable in a 68-21 win.
This year’s Bulldog schedule is exactly the same as last year, except for the reversal of home and away games.
Sulphur will host the fourtime state champion Washington Warriors in week 1, then travel to Davis in week 2 in what could be the game of the ages in the Murray County shootout series.
In week three, the Dogs will make the long trek to Cache in their final non-district game. Last year, the Dogs went into hyper speed in a dominating, 62-7 victory to send them into district play with plenty of momentum.
The Dogs will come back home in week 4 to host an always tough Perkins-Tryon. Last year, Sulphur dominated on both sides of the ball, smashing the Demons in the 3A-2 opener, 48-0. Sulphur racked up 531 yards in offense and allowed just 123 yards to the state semifinalist in 2023.
McLoud will round out the first half of the Bulldog schedule in a week five away game.
In that game last season, the Dogs again dominated every aspect of the contest and cruised to their second consecutive district win on homecoming night, 57-14. The score might have been a little misleading, however. Sulphur scored 57 points by halftime and amassed 321 yards of offense.
The Bulldogs will continue district play in week 6, hosting the Lone Grove Longhorns.
In that game last year, the Dogs, in one of their best defensive performances in school history, smothered the Longhorns with a lock-down defense combined with eight consecutive touchdown drives, and won 56-0.
Sulphur held Lone Grove to just 31 yards of total offense and just two first downs.
The week 7 game will send the Dogs north to Bristow where they will face off with the longtime state powerhouse.
In that game last season, the Dogs pitched their second consecutive shutout and third of the season, in a 41-0 marquee win. The victory nearly solidified their playoff hopes with just three regular season games remaining.
The Dogs will be back home in week 8, going against old foe Seminole, a team that gave them a scare in the opening quarter last season, scoring right off the bat and taking a 6-0 lead.
The Dogs then reeled of 49 unanswered points in arguably their most dominating performance of the season to that point.
Seminole’s 14-play, opening game TD drive ate up about half of the first quarter clock and it gave the Dogs plenty to think about since it was the first time they trailed all season after the opener at Washington.
In week 9 last season, Sulphur played fast and physical on senior night and blew past Victory Christian, 77-8, to nail down their first district title since 2018.
The performance was described as one the Bulldog’s best efforts ever in a complete domination of a top four district team.
The Dogs built up a 49-0 halftime lead, then scored four more TDs in the second half to rout the Conquerors.
“What an incredible night last Friday at CalvinAgee Field,” said head coach Corey Cole, after that game. “We played one of our best games of the year to win the District Championship.”
The Dogs will host Mannford for the regular season finale in week 10.
The game last year in the rain and cold at Mannford was similar to their prior eight, a blowout win.
Despite the weather conditions, Sulphur cruised to a 60-0 win, completing an undefeated district season and lots of momentum for the playoffs.
Next week, we will take a deeper look into the upcoming season.
