Sulphur Overcomes 4 Turnovers For 21st Straight Home Win
Playing what head coach Corey Cole described as fast and relentless football, the Sulphur Bulldogs overcame their mistakes to shut down another number one-ranked team last Friday, beating Davis in the county bedlam game, 28-6.
Another standing-room only crowed turned out in Sulphur and watched as the Bulldogs dismantled Davis’ wishbone offense to win their 21st consecutive home game.
“What an electric night for a football game at Calvin Agee Field,” said Cole. “Two highly regarded football teams that put everything on the line last Friday night. We were very fortunate to overcome four costly turnovers in the first half, finding a way to move forward. That was huge in the final outcome of the game.”
The Dogs definitely left some meat on the bone with the turnovers, but countered by shutting down the Wolves’ high octane wishbone offense, and some big plays offensively, including the school’s second longest pass play ever, a 96-yard Traber Sartors to Carter Cole touchdown gem.
That gave the Dogs a two-touchdown lead nearing the end of the first quarter and the momentum they needed to win their second consecutive game.
“Obviously, we made tons of mistakes and lots of things we have to get corrected and fixed, but one thing’s for sure, our kids played physical, they played fast, they played relentless, and they played together like brothers, and that’s all we ask of them every Friday night,” said Cole.
The two teams came into the game as number one in their class, depending on the poll, but the Dogs won in the trenches on both sides of the ball.
“I thought our defense was outstanding all night long, limiting Davis’s high-powered run game,” said Cole. “I thought we were very physical, swarmed the football, and played really disciplined. Our defensive line (Garin Watson, Jesse Peters, Kaleb Walker, Jackson Haggard, George Martinez, Acer Dixon and Thomas Jackson) played outstanding, controlling the line scrimmage.”
Davis did not score until midway through the final quarter after the deal had already been sealed. It was a game of big plays on both sides of the ball as Sulphur stopped Davis on a pair of goal-line stands after the turnovers.
“Our linebackers pressed all night long, and made big play after big play,” said Cole. “Chase Warden had his biggest game as a Sulphur Bulldog, Michael Morris continued his great play, and Lucas Mitchell
THE STATISTICS
Sulphur 28, Davis 6 Scoring Summary
Sulphur (7-0)--Jackson Haggard 20 yard TD run (Angel Rios kick), 1st Q, 7:15 Sulphur (14-0)--Carter Cole 96-yard TD pass from Traber Sartors (Rios kick), 1st Q, 1:27 Sulphur (21-0)--JoJo Gray 47-yard TD run (Rios kick), 3rd Q, 10:32 Sulphur (28-0)--JoJo Gray 63-yard TD run (Rios kick), 3rd Q, 8:23 Davis (28-6)--Isaac Lewis 9-yard TD pass from Dax Owens (run failed).
Score By Quarters 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Sulphur .......... 14 0 14 0--28 Davis .............. 0 0 0 6--6
Game Statistics
Sul. Davis First Downs......... 15 7 Rushing Yards. ... 30-300 45-174 Passing Yards. .... 11-146 2-22 Total Net Yards. .. 41-446 49-196 Passes ................ 7-11 2-4 Interceptions by .. 1 0 Turnovers............ 4 2 Punts .................. 1 5
Sulphur Individual Statistics
Passing: Traber Sartors, 7-11, 146 yds., 1 TD.
Receiving: Carter Cole, 2-101 yds., 1 TD; Drake Wood, 4-37 yds; Rush Pittman, 1-8 yds.
Rushing: JoJo Gray, 17-221 yds., 2 TDs; Jackson Haggard, 12-66 yds., 1 TD; Carter Cole, 1-13 yds.
Sulphur Team Statistics
Rushing Yards-- 300; Passing Yards-- 146; Total-- 41 plays, 446 yards. Turnovers: 4
Sacks Given Up: 0
Punts: 1 (Lucas Mitchell, 51 yds.) Extra Points: Angel Rios, 4-4.
Sulphur Tackles
Michael Morris, 10; Aylor Dixon, 9; Chase Warden, 10, Garin Watson, 8; Drake Wood, 1; Lucas Mitchell, 7; Kaleb Walker, 2; Acer Dixon, 4; Thomas Jackson, 4; Jackson Haggard, 2; George Martinez, 6; Traber Sartors, 2; Jesse Peters, 7; Harrison Taylor 2; Ethan Sales, 1; Jace Davis, 1; Makhi Gray, 3.
played outstanding in his first big action of the year. Ayler Dixon had a big game at his strong safety position making several key stops.”
Cole cited Michael Morris and Dixon for their defensive effort in helping halt the Wolves, each with a team-leading 10 tackles. Morris also had a sack and a fumble recovery. Cole said Ayler Dixon and Garin Watson each excelled defensively with nine and eight tackles respectively. He said Watson had the play of the game, after he chased down a Davis ball carrier on an option from the backside, and that TD-saving tackle led to a huge goal-line stand in the first half.
Cole also praised Jesse Peters and Lucas Mitchell, who finished with seven tackles each and George Martinez with six tackles and two for a loss.
“Except for the turnovers, we played really good offensively, the offensive line was dominant all night as we rushed for 300 yards on 30 attempts,” said Cole. “Jojo Gray had a big game with 221 yards and 17 carries and Jackson Haggard added 66 yards on 12 carries. We moved some people around on the offensive line and it really paid dividends as those guys did a great job of handling Davis slant defense.”
Cole praised quarterback Traber Sartors, in only his second start at the position, as he connected on seven of 11 passes for 146 yards and a score.
Receivers Carter Cole and Drake Wood also got a nod from the coach. Carter Cole had the big game, 96-yard TD toss from Sartors, and Wood reeled in 37 yards in passes and an interception defensively.
“This was just a great win for our program, and two weeks in a row we played number one ranked teams and came out on top and the big thing as we’ve gotten better each week,” said Cole. “We’re playing really good defense and offensively, we’re able to establish the run game and we’re getting better and better in the pass game each week. The things that we want to improve from the week before are we just gotta hang onto the ball, we cannot turn the football over. We were just very fortunate the defense played so outstanding last Friday night, just a great win and I’m proud of our team. I thought our coaches did a great job getting our kids ready and it’s always fun when you can beat Davis.”
Game Recap
The Bulldogs turned the ball over on a fumble right out of the gate on their first possession, but got it right back when they recovered a Davis fumble on their first play, setting up good field position at the Wolves’ 36.
Wood caught a 12-yard Sartors’ pass on first down, Gray went for four on second down, then Jackson Haggard raced 20 yards for the Dog’s first score. Angel Rios’kick was good, giving Sulphur an early, 7-0 lead.
Davis began at their own 33, then burned the Dogs on an option play as Jaxon Wright sped 47 yards to the Dog’s 12.
After moving to the four, Davis was stopped cold by a swarming Bulldog defense, including an excellent stop by Warden for no gain, as the Dogs took over deep in their own end of the field.
On first down, Sartors took the snap in the end-zone and fired off a long pass over the middle to a streaking Carter Cole, who caught it in stride, and raced in for the score, completing the school’s second longest touchdown pass in history of 96 yards. Rios’ PAT gave the Dogs a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter.
The remainder of the first half was highlighted by several outstanding defensive plays, but the Dogs would fumble two more times, including one at the Davis 14-yard-line to end a drive just before halftime.
Sulphur returned the second- half kickoff to their own 41, and in only four plays made it a 21-0 game when Gray broke free on a 47-yard score. Rios’ PAT kick was good, giving the Dogs a comfortable margin.
After forcing Davis to kick on their ensuing possession, the Dog’s Gray, on first down, blitzed the Wolves on a 63-yard scorning run midway through the third quarter to give Sulphur a fourscore margin. Rios hit the PAT and that was the game.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Dog’s Mitchell boomed a 52-yard punt to the Davis five, a point where the Wolves began their only TD drive of the game. Owens and fullback Creed Rogers did most of the damage on running plays, then Owens got Davis on the board with a nine-yard TD strike to Isaac Lewis. The PAT run failed, and Sulphur held on for the win.
