The Sulphur High Tors trailed just 7-0 after a defensive battle in the first half but Ouachita Parish scored 14 points in the third quarter for a 21-0 in the bi-district round of the Class 5A playoffs in Monroe on Friday.
The Tors defense wasted little time making their presence known when they stuffed Ouachita’s Montrell Conner at the line of scrimmage and caused him to fumble on the Lions third play of the game. Senior linebacker Keith Lemelle recovered the fumble to give the Tors the ball on the Lions 32 yard line.
But the Tors were not able to capitalize as they were only able to move the ball six yards and Kai Ackley’s 40-yard field goal attempt fell just short.
The Tors defense forced a four and out on the Lions next possession but again the Tors drive stalled as Garrett McCain’s pass to Kadeem Jacob on fourth down was short by just a few inches at Ouachita’s 27-yard line.
“We had missed opportunities,” Sulphur High head coach Paul Bourgeois said. “Once you have to opportunities and you miss out on them, the momentum switches.”
Ouachita got to the Tors’ 33 yard line early in the second quarter but a 50 yard field goal attempt by Matt Little was no good but the Lions were able to put the first points on the board on their next drive.
A fumble at the Tors’ 36 yard line by sophomore tailback Austin Sheperd gave the Lions a short field and five plays latter Conner scored from 13 yards out to put the Lions on the board.
The Tors were able to hold Conner to 59 yards in the first half but could not stop him in the second half as he added 103 yards to spur on the Lions’ second half surge. Conner finished with 162 yards on 29 carries and one touchdown.
Conner’s first two carries of the second half totaled 30 yards and three plays later Treadway connected with linebacker/wide receiver Cameron Blakes for a 16 yard score.
“We tried to be a little more balanced tonight and take the pressure of him (Conner),” Ouachita Parish head coach John Carr said. “We used the play action and we threw the ball.
“When you have someone like Montrell, you have to make sure he gets his carries because he is a back that gets better as the games goes on.”
That drive was set up by the Lions defense when Xavier Wallace intercepted McCain on the Tors’ fourth play of the second half.
Ouachita took the momentum on their second possession of the third quarter when wide receiver Chris Bolton ran for 44 yards on a reverse to put the Lions’ at the Tors’ 27-yard line. Bolton capped the drive with a 27-yard touchdown reception from Treadway to put Ouachita up 20-0.
“We knew going into the ballgame that Sulphur was an out standing football team,” Carr said. “We knew that we had to slow them down and we got the running game going with Montrell.
“We had a couple of play action passes that were big and we had the reverse in the second half. They (Sulphur) did a great job defending all night, we just found come creases and got Montrell going.”
An unsportsmanlike penalty pushed the extra point attempt back but Little was able to put it through the uprights to finish out the scoring for the Lions’.
The Lions continued to give the Tors’ offense trouble in the second half, as Sulphur got inside the Lions’ 25 yard line twice in the fourth quarter but came up empty handed.
The Tors started from their own 20-yard line with 8:44 left in the game and moved all the way to the Lions’ seven-yard line with the help of two pass interference calls but Nick Ross intercepted McCain.
Sulphur last drive of the game ended after the Tors came up short on a fourth down conversion with 1:13 remaining in the game.
“That was the key to the ball game,” Carr said. “Our defense was able to keep them out of the end zone.
“We made some plays down there and we have been able to do that the last couple of weeks.”
Friday’s loss marks the end of the road for the high school careers of 34 Sulphur Tors. .
“They are disappointed,” Bourgeois said. “I hope I got to hug everyone of them. “They were a fun group, very energetic and they play hard. I did not want to see it end this early. I think that they had the opportunity to play longer.”
Ouachita’s regional round game will not be any easier as they will face a team that they beat by just four points in their final regular season game in district rival Byrd.
Sulphur 0 0 0 0–0
Ouachita 0 7 14 0–21
Stats
SHS OHS
1st Downs 12 15
Rushing 78 214
Passing 112 133
Passes 15-28-2 10-19-0
Total Yds. 190 347
Fum/lost 3/1 1/1
Pen. 3/20 9/103
Scoring
2nd quarter
OHS-Montrell Conner 13yd run (Matt Little xp good)
3rd quarter
OHS-Corey Treadway 16yd pass to Cameron Blakes (Little xp good)
OHS-Treadway 27yd pass to Chris Bolton (Little xp good)
Individual Leaders
Rushing–Sulphur: Allen Joseph 11-41; Austin Sheperd 9-20; Garrett McCain 4-17. Ouachita: Montrell Conner 29-162, 1TD; Corey Treadway 4-4; Keynan Harris 1-1; Chris Bolton 1-44.
Passing–Sulphur: McCain 16-28-2, 112yds. Ouachita: Treadway 10-19-0, 133 yards 2TD.
Receiving–Sulphur: Dylan Stitzlein 6-53; Kadeem Jacob 6-48; Tyler Butler 2-6; Sheperd 1-5. Ouachita: Bolton 5-54, 1TD; Brandon Williams 3-47; Cameron Blakes 1-16, 1TD; Ryan Gebhardt 1-16.
Records: Sulphur 5-5, Ouachita Parish 9-2. Next: Byrd @ Ouachita Parish.
MONROE —
