Sulphur played fast and physical last Friday in another dominating performance, winning their first district title since 2018.
Arguably one of their best efforts ever, the Dogs scored early and often to completely overwhelm a then top four team in the district. By halftime, Sulphur’s lead had ballooned to 49-0 over the Victory Christian Conquerors, and it didn’t stop there. They went on to score four more TDs in the second half enroute to a 77-8 win.
“What an incredible night last Friday at Calvin Agee Field,” said head coach Corey Cole. “We played one of our best games of the year to win the District Championship.”
The Dogs aren’t newcomers to winning district titles, but have not gotten over the hump in past six years, winning runner-up titles in four of those five seasons. In 2019, they lost to Plainview on a last second field goal and settled for the runner-up spot, then won second place in 2020, 2021 and 2023.
“I’m incredibly proud of our football team for the way they work day in and day out and how they embrace every challenge week to week,” said Cole. “This is one of the most dominating performances we have had defensively - Victory Christian had negative yardage for the game going into the very last drive of the game before they scored with a minute left.”
The win came on an important point in the season for the Dogs, first for a chance to win the district title, and second, on senior night.
“What a night for our seniors Senior Night was fantastic and a night they will always remember, huge win and a district championship on Senior night,” the coach said.
Cole said the Dog’s win Friday was built on a fast and physical defense, a super efficient offense, and excellent special teams’ play.
The combination of Dog quarterback Luke Linville and receiver Maddax Mobly proved too much for the visitors. The pair hooked for three touchdown pass and run plays that went for 20, 34, and 63 yards.
“Maddax Mobly had another great game offensively and I thought Luke Linville really threw the ball well and had command of the offense,” said Cole. He also praised running backs Austin Garrett, Cash Matlack, Jojo Gray, and Baer Webb along with the Sulphur offensive line which he said “was fantastic.”
By the time the clock had ticked down to about two minutes left in the game, Victory Christian had not yet made a first down and hadn’t crossed the 50-yard-line, a testament to one of the best defensive performances in years for Sulphur.
Cole cited the play of linebacker Austin Garrett and defensive back Briar Davenport as two who stood out defensively.
“Austin Garrett had a great night defensively and Briar Davenport had an interception that he returned for a TD (20 yards),” said Cole. “That was our 6th defensive TD of the season along with three special teams TD’s. We have now forced 24 turnovers on the season which is a credit to our defense and the pride they take in creating turnovers.”
He also said the defensive line “was outstanding again” - praising the effort of Caden Cole, Justus Gilliam, Giddeon Petersen, Baer Webb, Colten Cole, Cooper Cole, and George Martinez.
Cole also cited the play of his secondary.
“Briar Davenport, Bridge Barrett, Maddux Boyd, and Eli Vinson played really well in the secondary, only allowing 9 yards passing to a team that came in throwing for a bunch of yards in their first eight games.
“I’m really proud of this team and these seniors - our first goal since day one was to be district champions and we accomplished that, but we have bigger goals and things that we want to accomplish this season, so we gotta get back to work, fix some mistakes from last week, and keep climbing towards those goals.”
It didn’t take the Dogs long to draw first blood in their quest for a district title, as they scored on an 8-play, 65-yard drive to open the game. Barrett ran in from the five to cap off the drive and Mobly gave the Dogs two more on a run conversion with 9:15 left in the first.
Just moments later, Davenport spied on a 3rd and 13 play, picking off a pass and returning it 20 yards for the score with only three minutes having ticked off in the first quarter. The Dog’s PAT kick failed, but they led, 14-0 with at the 9:08 mark in the first.
Victory Christian made only three net yards on their ensuing drive and punted, Sulphur getting the ball at the Conquerors’ 39 yard-line.
Matlack negotiated all but one yard of the that distance, then plunged over from the one to give the Dogs a three-score lead. Colten Cole proved the PAT kick with 6:49 left in the first and the Dogs enjoyed a 21-0 lead.
Victory Christian punted twice and Sulphur once on the next three drives before Sulphur ended up with ball at their own 41. Mobly then sealed the deal on a 20-yard TD pass from Linville as the first quarter came to a close. Cole’s PAT kick was good to give the Dogs 28-0 lead.
The Dogs then made it 35-0 on a one-yard plunge from Matlack with 9:10 left in the second. The big play in the drive was a 38yard Linville to Barrett pass to the one. Cole’s PAT was good.
Cole then booted the ball to the end-zone, forcing the visitors to start at their own 20, but they went nowhere and the Dogs ended up with ball at the nine on a Carter Cole punt return.
Garrett scored from there on the second play and Cole’s PAT kick gave Sulphur a 42-0 lead with 7:26 still left in the first half.
Another kickoff to the endzone and another stalled drive by VC gave the Dogs the ball at the Conquerors’ 37 after a 15-yard Mobly punt return.
Linville then fired a 37-yard scoring strike to Mobly on the third play of the drive and Cole’s PAT kick gave the Dogs a 49-0 lead, and still there were over four minutes remaining in the half.
The second half wasn’t any better for the Conquerors.
Mobly hauled in a 63-yard scoring pass from Linville, Baer Webb raced 25 yards for another score, and Jojo Gray added two scores, on runs of five and 20 yards to end the scoring. Reserve kicker Angel Rios booted three three-point conversions to wrap up the Sulphur scoring as the Dogs led, 77-0.
VC finally got on the board at the 1:01 mark in the fourth quarter on a 60-yard run and two-point conversion that ended the game.
The Dogs will play their final, regular season game at Mannford this Friday. Game-time is 7:00 p.m.
Players of the Game
Coach Cole cited these players for their performances in last Friday night’s win over Victory Christian as Players of the Game:
•Offensive player of game: Maddax Mobly
•Defensive Players of game: All 11 players on Starting Defense!
•Big Dawg of the week: Cooper Cole
•Hit of the Week: Austin Garrett
•Practice player of the week: Traber Sartors
•Special Teams player of the week: Kaden Seitz & Madden Duck.
