First-Half Dog Explosion Too Much For Purple Pirates
The Dogs went hard and fast on both sides of the ball in one of their most impressive first two quarters of the season, storming past Bristow to remain undefeated last Thursday evening.
Sulphur (7-0, 4-0) scored fast out of the gate when linebacker Jayden McClure intercepted a Purple Pirate pass and took it to the house on the game’s fourth play, and it was all Dogs from there.
By halftime, Sulphur had built up a 38-0 lead, and cruised on in for a 52-14 District 3A-2 win over Purple Pirates (3-4, 2-2).
Head Sulphur coach, Corey Cole, described the first half performance as perhaps the best football the Dogs have played all season.
“I thought we were really focused and dialed in considering it was a short week and we were out of school,” said Cole. “I was really proud of our kids last Thursday at Bristow.”
The Dogs scored on all six firsthalf possessions, and forced three Bristow turnovers, one of which went for a Bulldog TD.
With a big first-half lead, Cole said they slowed the pace down in the second half, not wanting to show anything new in the play book.
The Pirates managed a good third quarter with a couple of scores, but it wasn’t enough as Sulphur hit the gas petal late in the third and early in the fourth for their final two TDs of the night.
The Dogs were impressive offensively with 430 total yards, and Cole praised the play of several players in that effort..
“Offensively, I thought we ran the ball very well and thought Jojo Gray, Grady Hardoin, and Jackson Haggard all ran the ball physically and took care of the ball,” he said. “The offensive line did a really good job versus a loaded box. Kale Brakefield had a TD run and two passing TD’s as he continued his steady play at QB.”
Cole also complimented the play of Garin Watson, who snatched his first TD reception of the season, and “played really well in all three phases of the game.”
Others with impressive performances, Cole said, were Colten Cole, who made a big time catch for the other TD reception, along with Kale Brakefield, Maddax Mobly, Hardoin, and Haggard, all adding TD runs to the offensive output.
For the first three quarters, the Dog’s played lockdown defense, forcing four turnovers and three punts.
McClure’s pick six on the game’s fourth play was one of the big highlights of that stretch as he set the tone early on a 32-yard TD interception return.
Other Dogs with notable defensive performances, according to Cole, were Carter Cole and Traber Sartors, each with interceptions, and Bridge Barrett with a fumble recovery.
Another player Cole cited for his defensive effort was Cooper Cole, who had 10 tackles and a sack from his defensive end position.
“We had a couple of busts in the secondary on being a little too aggressive a couple of plays but for the most part I thought we defended the pass very well and were really good tacklers with Carter Cole, Bridge Barrett, and Drake Wood having several big plays,” said Cole. “Jason Gleason, Colten Cole, and Connor Sullivan played good football on the defensive line with Gleason getting a sack and tackle for loss. McClure, Duck, and Kash Pickett keep getting better every game at linebacker and have played very consistent and are playing very physical,” he said.
The Dog’s special teams also played outstanding last Thursday, according to Cole.
“Colten Cole and Angel Rios made all extra points and did a tremendous job on kickoffs,” Cole said. “Our kickoff coverage unit has become very good and continues to do a great job of pinning the other team deep on kickoffs, that unit is flying down the field and being extremely physical while maintaining discipline in their coverage.”
Two other players with big performances in the kicking game, according to Cole, were Carter Cole and Maddax Mobly, both with big punt returns. Colten Cole also punted the ball extremely well in the second half, the coach said.
“We work on two-minute hurry up offense every week and got a chance to use it last Thursday, getting the ball back with 30 seconds before half, and we executed it just like we practice it and Colten was able to hit a 32-yard field goal as time expired at half for the 38-0 lead.”
Cole summed up the play of his Dogs, saying, “Our kids played physical, they played fast, and they played disciplined and that was our focus last week on a short week. We took care of the ball, only turnover was an interception on a pass that hit our receiver and bounced into the air. We did a great job forcing turnovers, and I thought we cut out a bunch of the bad penalties that had been haunting us lately. Great win on the road, lots of things to continue to improve on and we will, but we were very pleased with our overall performance.”
Game Recap
The Pirates tried picking on the Sulphur secondary after two successful runs got them a first down to open the game, but a long pass from quarterback Promised Johnson on the next play was picked off by Dog linebacker, Jayden McClure, who returned it for a touchdown.
Suddenly, the Dogs were on the board after just one minute and 28 seconds had elapsed on the clock as Colten Cole made it 7-0 with the PAT kick.
Bristow picked up one first down on their next series, but the Dog’s Barrett recovered a fumble on a third-and-one situation to give them new life.
Sulphur took advantage of the turnover, scoring in only six plays as Kale Brakefield weaved his way through the defense on a 12-yard run. Cole’s PAT kick with 6:22 left in the first period was good, giving the Dogs a 14-0 lead.
Colten Cole’s ensuing kickoff went into the end-zone, giving Sulphur good defensive field position at the 20.
The Pirates picked up a first down on their next possession, but three plays into the drive, the Dog’s Carter Cole picked off a pass to set up Sulphur at almost point-blank range at the 15.
A couple of strong runs from Gray moved them closer, but a holding penalty set the Dogs back to the 17-yard-line. From there, Colten Cole grabbed a 17-yard pass from Brakefield to give the Dogs their third TD of the evening. Cole made the PAT kick to give the dogs a commanding, 21-0 lead with 4:13 left in the first quarter.
Bristow couldn’t move on their next possession, failing on a third-and-one try, and punted. The punt was shanked, however, and went only to their own 44.
The Dogs went for the knockout punch on a pass, but a rare interception gave the Pirates the ball back at their own 40.
Despite completing a 15-yard pass and several good runs, the Pirates were stymied on an alert play by the Dog’s Drake Wood on a flat pass which went for a twoyard loss.After a 15-yard penalty, the Pirates were forced to punt.
Sulphur ended up with possession at their own seven, then began an 11-play, 93-yard drive that gave them a 28-0 lead after Angel Rios’ PAT kick. Big plays in the drive were a 20-yard Brakefield to Mobly pass, a 10-yard Hardoin run and finally culminating in a two-yard Mobly plunge for the TD.
The Pirates took over at their own 25 after the kick-off, then got into Sulphur territory on a 42yard pass play. The drive ended, however, when the Dog’s sacked Pirate quarterback Johnson on a 4th down try.
The Dogs took over at their own 38, and drove down to the 10 where Hardoin blew through a big hole for a 10-yard TD. The score came at the 1:24 mark in the second period and the Dogs now enjoyed a 35-0 lead with halftime approaching. Rios’ PAT kick was good.
Sulphur picked up three more points as the halftime clock expired, with Cole booting a 32-yard field goal to end the half.
After trading punts to start the third quarter, the Dogs set up at Bristow’s 44 to begin the drive. It ended as Watson went 47 yards with a Brakefield pass to give Sulphur a 45-0 lead at the 5:05 mark in the third quarter. Rios’ kick was good. It was Watson’s first TD catch of the season.
Bristow finally got on the board at the 1:20 mark in the third period on a 54-yard TD pass with 1:20 left in the third. The PAT was good.
Sulphur went plain vanilla on offense with the game well in hand while the Pirates’ offense woke up to some degree, scoring again late in the fourth quarter, on a 26-yard pass with 3:49 left in the final period.
The Dogs got a final TD as underclassman Jackson Haggard broke through a stacked Pirate defense and raced 49 yards for a score. The PAT kick from Rios was good, writing the final script to the game, 52-14.
The Dogs will host Seminole Friday in a key, District 3A-2 game starting at 7:00 p.m.
