In what could be their toughest competition at any level this season, the Sulphur Bulldogs could not overcome a lackluster first quarter and lost their final leg of a three-game gauntlet against No. 1-ranked teams last Friday night in Gunter, Texas.
After trailing the Gunter Tigers, 16-0, after the first quarter, the Dogs rallied throughout the next three quarters and were only one drive away from taking the lead late in the game on two separate attempts, but were stopped twice on game-changing defensive plays by the Tigers.
Gunter’s speed and size, reminiscent of the Lincoln Christian teams the Dogs faced in the Class 3A state finals the past two years, proved to be the difference in the 29-17 loss.
Despite the setback, Sulphur head coach Corey Cole said there were plenty of positives to take from the Bulldogs’ battle against one of the top programs in Texas.
“No excuses from last Friday night,” Cole said. “Gunter has a great team and they made more plays than we did. To win bigtime games like last Friday, we have to minimize the mistakes that we made. But thankfully, it’s all fixable because our kids are always going to play hard and give everything they have to the Sulphur Bulldogs.”
Cole was particularly proud of the Bulldogs’ response after falling behind early.
“I’m really proud of our kids’ effort, their resilience and their will to fight back after falling behind 16-0 early in the first quarter against an incredibly talented high school football team,” he said. “We had a lot of grit and toughness battling back and giving ourselves an opportunity.”
That opportunity came late in the game when Sulphur had possession with less than four minutes remaining and a first down at the Gunter 40-yard line.
“We had the ball with less than four minutes left and first down on Gunter’s 40-yard line with a chance to try to go win,” Cole said. “It just shows a lot about the heart, the belief and the will to win that these guys have.”
The Bulldogs’ effort was particularly impressive considering the physical nature of the contest.
“It was an extremely physical football game,” Cole said. “Gunter plays extremely physical, very fast, and I thought our kids matched it for most of the game. Besides that slow start, it was pretty much blow-for-blow after that.”
One of the biggest areas of concern was penalties. Sulphur was repeatedly forced to operate behind the chains, including five occasions when the Bulldogs faced first-and-15 following falsestart penalties.
“We had way too many penalties in a game like that on such a big stage,” Cole said. “Those are the things that we cannot have happen if we want to be successful in big games. We started first-and-15 five different times because of false starts, and those are things that are hard to overcome when
Sulphur senior Acer Dixon celebrates after recovering a fumble in the Dog’s loss to the Gunter, Texas Tigers.
PHOTO BY BLAKE SEALE you’re playing somebody as talented and as good as Gunter.”
Dogs
Bulldogs Run The Ball Well Sulphur continued to demonstrate its strength in the running game against Gunter.
JoJo Gray again eclipsed the 100-yard mark, while quarterback Traber Sartors contributed nearly 70 yards on the ground.
“I thought we ran the ball pretty well against a great defensive front,” Cole said. “JoJo went over 100 yards again, and Traber had almost 70 yards on the ground.”
The passing game, however, struggled against Gunter’s speed and pass rush. The Bulldogs completed just four of 18 attempts for 91 yards.
“We struggled in the passing game,” Cole said. “That’s something that we’ve got to get better at, and we’ve got to get that number closer to 60% completion.”
Cole acknowledged that Gunter’s defense played a major role in the passing struggles.
“Gunter had a lot to do with that,” he said. “They played great, they’re fast, they’ve got a great pass rush.”
Moving forward, Cole said improving the passing attack will be a major point of emphasis.
“We’re running the ball very, very well, and we just have to be a little bit more efficient in the passing department in those big games if we’re going to have opportunities,” he said.
Defense Forces Six Turnovers
While the offense struggled to capitalize on opportunities, Sulphur’s defense turned in a strong performance against one of the most productive teams the Bulldogs have faced.
Michael Morris and Ayler Dixon led the Bulldogs with 10 tackles each, and both recorded interceptions. Drake Wood added eight tackles, while George Martinez finished with seven, Jesse Peters had six, and Titus Vinson and Chase Warden each recorded five.
“I was proud of our defense,” Cole said. “We kept them right around the 300-yard mark, which is way down compared to what they usually do on Friday nights.”
The Bulldogs also forced six turnovers.
“We forced six turnovers, which is really, really good, and when you get that defensively, you know you should win a football game,” Cole said. “We just didn’t find a way on our offense, and we just weren’t able to capitalize on the turnovers.”
Cole said turning takeaways into points will be another area the Bulldogs must improve.
“That’s something we’ve got to do,” he said. “We have to capitalize on turnovers, and we didn’t do that like we should have.”
Special Teams Strong
Sulphur’s special teams also turned in a solid performance.
The Bulldogs forced several punts, handled kickoff coverage effectively and converted all of their extra-point attempts. Angel Rios added a 30-yard field goal, while Sulphur averaged 37.5 yards per punt.
“I thought we played really well in special teams,” Cole said. “We did a good job on kickoff coverage, and we made all our extra points. Angel Rios made a 30-yard field goal and we averaged 37.5 yards per punt.”
Cole said the biggest offensive issue was simply too many mistakes and too many situations in which the Bulldogs found themselves playing behind the chains.
“Offensively, we just had a few mistakes,” he said. “We played behind the chains way too much last Friday night.”
Three No. 1 Teams In Three Weeks
Although the loss dropped Sulphur to 2-1, Cole said the Bulldogs’ brutal non-district schedule should pay dividends as the season progresses.
Sulphur opened the season against three consecutive No. 1-ranked opponents, winning two of those contests.
“We played three number one teams the first three weeks and we’re 2-1,” Cole said. “But more than anything, we’ve got to get better.”
Cole compared Gunter to the Lincoln Christian teams Sulphur faced in the Class 3A state championship games the past two seasons.
“Gunter reminds me of the teams that we played in the finals the last two years in Lincoln Christian, very physical and very fast,” he said. “They just do things right and put pressure on you all the time.”
The Bulldogs withstood that pressure for much of the second half and still had an opportunity to take control late.
“We were able to withstand that for the middle of the third and fourth quarter, and again we had a chance there at the end, we just didn’t capitalize,” Cole said.
Cole believes the experience will ultimately benefit the Bulldogs.
“Playing games like this are going to make us better,” he said. “We’re starting to get a little bit more confidence, and we’re starting to play really well together. I’m hoping that these first three games will really push us forward in district play.”
District Play Begins At Madill
With the difficult non-district portion of the schedule complete, Sulphur now turns its attention to district play and Friday night’s trip to Madill.
“Now the real season begins for us,” Cole said. “We know our goals will be to win the district championship. We’ve got to take it one day at a time and one game at a time, but I really feel our non-district schedule is really going to give us an opportunity moving forward to be successful.”
Madill enters Friday’s game at 0-3 following a loss to Ardmore last week.
“Friday night, we travel to Madill,” Cole said. “They are a young team and they’re 0-3. They just lost toArdmore this past week, and Ardmore is one of the best teams in 4A.”
For Sulphur, the objective this week is straightforward.
“The focus this week is very simple,” Cole said. “We need to be way more efficient offensively and take care of the football, working on our defensive, getting aligned quicker to certain formations, getting our reads quicker and attacking this week.”
Cole’s message to his team is clear following the Gunter loss.
“Our goal is to get better,” he said. “We’ve got to take it one day at a time and one game at a time.”
Game Recap
Gunter erupted for touchdowns on their first two possessions, and converted both extra-point runs for additional points to take a 16-0 lead with 5:25 left in the first quarter.
Shocked, the Dogs went four consecutive possessions without a first down and were almost down and out when a big defensive play put them right back into the game.
The Tigers got possession at their own 34 and were poised to make another run at a score when Sulphur strong safety Traber Sartors scooped up a fumble and raced 40 yards untouched into the end-zone. The score and Angel Rios’ PAT kick cut into Gunter’s lead and gave the Dogs new life.
Sulphur’s Acer Dixon recov- ered a Gunter fumble on their ensuing drive to give the Dogs a chance to cut deeper into the Tiger’s lead Starting at their own 42, the Dogs began with a 9-yard blast from running back JoJo Gray, but they could not overcome three five-yard false start penalties in the following plays and turned the ball over on downs at the Gunter 36.
ABOVE: Sulphur receiver Carter Cole (10) snags a 30-yard pass from quarterback Traber Sartors in the Dog’s loss to the Gunter Tigers last Friday. RIGHT: Sophomore defensive end Titus Vinson (17) had a breakout game with five defensive stops. PHOTOS BY BLAKE SEALE
The Sulphur defense held strong, however, forcing Gunter to punt after a short run and two incomplete passes.
Sulphur’s Carter Cole fielded the long punt, returning it 20 yards, but he was close to going the distance after a touchdown saving tackle by a Gunter defender.
The Dogs ran two plays, but stalled out as the first half ended.
Sulphur took the second half kickoff at their own 21, but could not move the chains after another five-yard false start penalty, and punted to midfield.
With good field position, the Tigers scored in only six plays, taking a 23-7 lead after the PAT kick.
The ensuing kickoff put the Dogs deep on their own end of the field, Sulphur taking possession at the 13.
On first down, Sartors fired off a 35-yard strike to Carter Cole, and now the Dogs had something going. Sartors then gained about 10 yards on the next play on a quarterback run, then Gray caught a seam and blasted 19 yards to the 12. Gray then completed the drive on the next play, going 12 yards for the score, giving Sulphur new life and trailing by only nine, 23-14.
Gunter began at their own 36 after the kickoff, but lost possession when the Dog’s Chase Warden recovered a fumble on the third play of the drive.
The Dogs could not convert the turnover into points and were forced to punt after being flagged for a 15-yard penalty.
Neither team could mount much of an offense the next three possessions, but Sulphur found a little spark early in the fourth period after Mavric Lowrance pounced on a lose Gunter ball, just 20 yards out from a possible score.
Gunter’s defense held, though, and Sulphur settled for a 30-yard Rios’ field goal, trimming the Tiger’s lead to six, 23-17.
Gunter returned the kickoff to their own 25, but were forced to punt three plays later after Ayler Dixon batted down a pass on what was described as a great individual effort.
Sulphur now had a chance to take their first lead in the game. They moved to the Tiger’s 43-yard-line, but stalled out as Gunter’s defense held strong on their home turf.
The Dog’s had one more final run at taking the lead on the next series when Michael Morris intercepted a Tiger pass at Gunter’s 43. The Dogs, showing what Coach Corey Cole called grit and determination through the final three quarters, were unable to convert the turnover into points after Gunter intercepted a second down pass play to pretty much ended the game The Tigers then scored, taking only three plays to negotiate the final 20 yards on a one-yard plunge. Their PAT run failed, but the Tigers now held a 12-point lead with just two minutes left, and that sealed their third consecutive win of the season.
