Team Plays Fast And Physical In First Outing Of The Season
Head Sulphur football coach Corey Cole was mostly excited about his team as they took on Lindsay last Friday in their first scrimmage test of the season, but he said there are still a few areas that need improvement.
The Dogs, ranked second or third in Class 3A depending on the poll, battled against the 12th ranked Leopards in Sulphur on a warm and muggy evening. The Dogs continue to ramp up for their opening game of the season against the Class 2A-1, Washington Warriors, on Friday, Sept. 5.
“We definitely saw a lot of positive things last Friday in our scrimmage with Lindsay and definitely saw many areas that we have to improve on as well,” Cole said. “I was really proud of the way that we played fast and physical which is our number one goal going into any game or scrimmage.”
Creating turnovers and taking care of the ball have always been two aspects of the game Bulldog coaches have stressed over the years and Friday night’s test was an example of both, according to Cole. “I thought we did a great job of creating turnovers and we did a great job of taking care of the ball,” he said.
The Dog’s Kale Brakefield and Carter Cole each caused a fumble and Sulphur did not relinquish the ball throughout the session.
Cole also said the team’s offensive line play got better with every snap. “That group continues to get better and grow together and that is going to be huge for our development this season.”
Offensively, the Dogs served up some pretty good numbers for their first outing.
Brakefield, getting his first-ever start in a Bulldog uniform, threw the ball well, according some plays running the ball as well,” said Cole.
to Cole, going 12 for 16 for 287 yards and three scores. “I thought he got better taking what the defense was giving us and made On the receiving end of Brakefi eld’s passes were Colten Cole, Carter Cole and Drake Wood.
Dogs
Colten Cole reeled in three passes for 105 yards and a score, Carter Cole had three receptions for 87 yards and two scores and Wood hauled in three catches for 77 yards as the Dogs ended up with a solid evening in the passing game.
Cole said Sulphur’s run game was not as efficient as in the passing game and had some early struggles as new linemen get settled into their positions.
“We ran the ball efficiently at times, but also had some struggles early,” said Cole. Leading the Dogs were Madden Duck, who had 4 carries for 27 yards and a TD, Grady Hardoin, 5 carries for 17 yards and a TD, and Kash Pickett two carries for 15 yards. “Our young guys really played well offensively, and I thought Aylor Dixon, Mavric Lawrence, Nate Wood, and Lucas Mitchell had really productive nights.”
The Dogs were pretty stingy defensively, according to Cole.
“Defensively, we never gave up a score and had a big time goal-line stand,” he said. “We gave up a couple of big plays on a couple of busts, but I loved our resilience and effort to keep those guys out of the end-zone.”
Cole cited several players for their defensive play, including Traber Sartors, who he praised for a big effort in the game. “Traber Sartors had a standout performance at safety,” said Cole. “I was needing to see him make plays and he did.”
Cole also cited Cooper Cole, George Martinez, Connor Sullivan and Colten Cole, who he said all played well on the defensive line. “I thought we chased the ball all night and made plays when we needed them.”
At linebacker, Cole said Michael Morris, Pickett, Brakefield, Garin Watson, Jayden McClure, and Duck “all played pretty good.”
At the defensive corner position, Cole said Bridge Barrett and Wood were very good throughout the evening.
“All in all, we played hard and played with great effort and enthusiasm,” he said. “It was great to finally compete against someone other than ourselves. Lindsay has a veteran team and will be one to watch this season. I feel like they have some really good pieces to make a run in 2A1. We got better, but definitely found lots of areas that we need to improve in and that’s what you are looking for in a scrimmage.”
The Dogs will have a final preseason test this Thursday at Tecumseh before the real deal against Washington in just over a week.
The team will scrimmage both Tecumseh and Plainview with sessions to begin at 5:30 p.m. for the seventh and eighth grades, followed at 6:30 p.m. with the junior high and high school.
“This will be our last chance to fix and correct some things before the week 1 showdown with Washington,” said Cole.
PHOTO BY BLAKE SEALE
