Behind 14-7 midway through the first half, the Sulphur Tors took the pressure in stride and came through with big plays on both sides of the ball for a 20-14 win over Sam Houston in the Lake Area Jamboree at Cowboy Stadium on Friday night.
“We talked about perseverance,” Sulphur head coach Harold Fusilier said. “We had some bad things happen to us.
“A lot of it is our own making and some of it is their doing but we hung in there. I though in the second half that defensively we played with a lot more enthusiasm which was lacking in the first half but I thought that our offense carried us the whole time.”
After gaining 119 yards in the first half and taking a 14-7 lead after scoring on their first two drives of the game, the Broncos' offense struggled in the second half as the Tors defense tightened up and allowed just 55 yards. Two possessions in the second half ended on interceptions by Will Hansen and Sean Connor and another ended on a punt.
“The kids competed and had fun,” Sam Houston head coach Russ Sutherland said. “We flew around a little.
“We have something to build on. Obviously we wish that we had won the game. We did enough good things to win the game today. In the end we just didn't get it done.”
Sulphur found themselves down 14-7 just over four minutes left in the game. The Broncos started from their own 36-yard line and six plays later they were on the Tors 41-yard line after Evan Powell completed a 12-yard pass to Donovan Landry.
Powell heaved a long pass intended Tanner Stewart but Hansen stepped up for the defensive play of the game and intercepted the ball at the three yard line and returned it 50 yards to the Broncos 47 yard line with 59 seconds left.
The Tors quickly moved down the field with a 15-yard gain by fullback Keith Jasmine and a 17-yard pass from Bryce Gardiner to Dentzel Brown. Sophomore tailback Brian Walker nearly took it in on the next play but fumbled the ball out of bounds at the one-yard line. Walker got redemption on the next play when he leaped into the end zone on the left side for the score with 22 seconds left in the game.
Sam Houston got one last chance to go for the win but after Daniel Ellis gained 12 yards on a pass from Powell, he fumbled the ball and Sulphur's Brently Sorgee recovered to end the threat.
On their first drive the game, the Tors needed just one yard on third down at the Broncos 46 yard line but junior quarterback Bryce Gardiner turned the play into the first score of the game as he scampered down the sideline for a 46-yard touchdown.
Sam Houston did not let the early touchdown get to them as they responded by scoring on their first two possessions.
The Broncos capped a 64-yard drive with a 19-yard touchdown from Powell to Rafer Hubert to tie the game with just over seven minutes left in the first half.
Sam Houston's defense forced the Tors to go four and out on their next possession Powell threw another 19-yard touchdown this time to Donovan Landry and the Broncos took a lead 14-7.
“We were very pleased with the effort,” Sutherland said. “In the first half we scored the first two times that we touched it.
“We did a lot of good things especially the first half. The second half we missed a couple of opportunities. We had first and five and have to punt. We can't have that.”
With 4:41 left in the first half, the Tors were not done. Walker started off the drive with a 19-yard game but a few plays later it looked like the drive would stall at the Broncos 30 yard line on fourth and 11.
Sophomore kicker Troy Price set up for a 47-yard field goal but Gardiner took the snap and threw to his right to senior tight end Garrett Landry. It looked like the Broncos had Landry stopped at about the 15 yard line but he broke free for a 30 yard touchdown. Price's extra point kick tied the game with 23 seconds left in the first half.
“I would like to take credit for that one but it was Coach Fontenot that called that,” Fusilier said. “He has the option of doing that at anytime.
I was fooled too. I thought that it was a great call at that time.”
Broncos' sophomore linebacker Evan Campbell had a big night as he picked off Gardiner in the second half and recovered a fumble.
Sulphur will open the season on Friday at home against St. Thomas More at 7 p.m. Sam Houston will hit the road for their season opener on Friday to take on St. Martinville.
Barbe 14, Westlake 0
The Westlake Rams were down just 7-0 with 7:52 left in the second half but the Barbe Bucs took advantage of a bad punt snap and won 14-0 on Friday night at the Lake Area Jamboree at Cowboy Stadium.
“We did some good things against a very good football team,” Westlake head coach Max Caldarera said. “They (Barbe) are going to be great this year.
“I think that we are finding some kids that want to play and get after it. We are happy with their effort tonight. That is going to happen sometimes. We don't like them. He snapped the first two beautiful. We will get better at that.”
Forced to punt on their own 35-yard line, the snap went over the head of Westlake punter Trey Johnson. Johnson scrambled for the ball and tried to kick it near the goal line but it was blocked by Barbe's Dewayne Prudomme and recovered in the end zone by Ryan Dupuis for the touchdown.
The Rams moved the ball well on the ground Friday with 86 rushing yards led by junior tailback Devin Eaglin with 18 carries for 65 yards. But with pressure from the Bucs defensive line and secondary they struggled to get their passing game going.
“We feel that we can run the football,” Caldarera said. “We have to work on the throwing game.
“They did a heck of a job taking our throwing game away from us.”
Westlake completed just one pass while the Bucs' Jacob Shepherd and Darius Perry each picked up a sack of Westlake quarterback Ryan Feagan.
The Rams defense gave up 101 yards in the first half but only allowed 14 yards in the second half.
Westlake got the ball back with 2:51 left in the game and drove to the Bucs' 32-yard line but the clock expired before they could get another play off.
Barbe took a 7-0 lead when tailback Jarreth Rougeau scored on their fourth play of the game from eight yards out. He finished with five carries for 33 yards.
Barbe quarterback Jared Foster completed nine of 12 passes for 78 yards with all of them going to wide receiver Tye Taylor.
Westlake will open the 2010 season at home on Friday against Marksville.
Box Scores
Sulphur 14 6-20
Sam Houston 14 0-14
SUL SHHS
9 FD 12
156 RUSH 60
77 PASS 114
233 TOTAL 174
1/1 F/L 2/1
4-30 PEN 1-15
1-29 PUNT 1-47
RUSHING: Sulphur-K. Jasmine 4-78; B. Gardiner 4-49, 1TD; B. Walker 5-29, 1TD. Sam Houston-Osha Jackson 6-27; R. Hubert 5-12; E. Powell 6-12; D. Ellis 1-9.
PASSING: Sulphur-B. Gardiner 8-14-1, 77yds, 1TD. Sam Houston-E. Powell 9-12-2, 114yds, 2TDs.
RECEIVING: Sulphur-G. Landry 1-30, 1TD; K. Jasmine 2-26; D. Brown 2-19; Chase Hebert 1-3; Tyler Lominac 1-(-1); B. Walker 1-0. Sam Houston-D. Lanry 3-41, 1TD; Hunter Prejean 3-32; R. Hubet 2-29, 1TD; D. Ellis 1-12.
INTERCEPTIONS: Sulphur-W. Hansen (1), S. Connor (1). Sam Houston E. Campbell (1).
KICKING: Sulphur-T. Price 2-3XP; S. Connor 1 punt, 29yds. Sam Houston-D. Landry 2-2 XP; E. Powell 1 punt, 47yds.
Westlake 0 0-0
Sam Houston 7 7-14
WL BHS
7 FD 5
86 RUSH 37
77 PASS 78
233 TOTAL 115
1/1 F/L 1/0
0-0 PEN 2-15
4-13.75 PUNT 2-37.5
RUSHING: WESTLAKE–D. Eaglin 17-65; Tyler Stoddard 3-24; Justin Nordberg 5-10; R. Feagan 3-(-13). BARBE–J. Rougeau 5-33, 1TD; J. Foster 2-12; Tre Goodly 2-3; Jhoby Lewis 1-(-11).
PASSING: WESTLAKE–R. Feagan 1-2-0, 6yds. BARBE–J. Foster 6-9-0, 78yds.
RECEIVING: WESTLAKE–J. Nordberg 1-6. BARBE–T. Taylor 6-78.
KICKING: WESTLAKE–Trey Johnson 4 punts, 13.75avg. BARBE–Mark Menton 2-2 XP, 2 punts 37.5avg.
