No. 25 Sulphur Tors will make the four-hour trek north to take on the No. 8 Ouachita Parish Lions today in the bi-district round of the Class 5A playoffs at 7 p.m.
The Sulphur High Tors will be looking to improve on last year’s early exit against an 8-2 Ouachita team.
“Obviously it would be great to win in the first round on the road,” Sulphur High head coach Paul Bourgeois said. “They (Ouachita) put a heck of a load of talent on the field that year and that is what we are seeing again this year.”
Coincidentally, the last time the two faced each other; Bourgeois picked up his first playoff win as the Tors’ head coach in the first round of the 2002 playoffs 17-14 at home.
This will be only the sixth time the Tors and Lions have squared off and the first one dates back to 1979 when the Class 4A No. 2 Tors topped the Lions 20-6 under then head coach Shannon Suarez.
All though current head coach John Carr was not at the helm of the Lions in 2002, he still considers the 5-4 Tors a bigger threat than their record implies.
“We have played some good football this year, but we are fully aware of the traditions and success at Sulphur,” Carr said. “Our guys understand that two years ago they came up here and beat West-Monroe.
“The kids play hard and they play outstanding defense. They are probably the most physical football team that we have played up to this point. ”
Outstanding defense will definitely be a key to the Tors success on Friday night, as the Lions offense features 6’2” tailback Montrell Conner who has run for 1,488 yards and 15 touchdowns.
“Every week we do a few things different on both sides of the ball,” Bourgeois said. “If we are able to stop him (Conner) before he gets cranked up it will make a difference but he is a heck of a runner if he gets going.
“A runner like that is going to involve all 11. We are going to need a total team effort to be able to control him.”
A big plus for Sulphur defense this week will be that senior linebacker Tahj Jones is finally back to 100 percent after an ankle injury in the Tors loss to St. Thomas More.
“Last week, Tahj looked like the old Tahj,” Bourgeois said. “He hurt his ankle against St. Thomas More.
“He hobbled around against St. Pius X, he was near full speed at Barbe but his adrenalin took over and he started getting closer to full speed against Acadiana and Comeaux. Comeaux was the first time I have seen him look like I know what he can do. He is such an impact player.”
Sulphur will not be able to solely focus on the Lions’ running game as quarterback Corey Treadway has thrown for 1,245 yards and 14 touchdowns while completing 52 percent of his passes.
The secondary has been one of the Tors strong points this season as they have been able to use the same personnel most of the season. The Tors secondary has combined for seven interceptions this season with senior cornerback Nick Tramonte leading the way with three including one for a touchdown.
The most passing yards the Tors have allowed this year was 160 yards to Barbe’s Eric Cutrera.
“He (Conner) gets a lot of the credit but the quarterback (Treadway) runs well and when they have to throw they do throw,” Bourgeois said. “They have been very successful with it.
“Maybe not as much as quote passing teams but he is efficient. I know the staff is prepared and they will put the kids in a position to have success. We have talked about our secondary being steady all year and part of it is that we have just about had the same personnel all year.”
Ouachita comes into the game averaging 31.6 points per game and 350 yards per game but Bourgeois feels that the Tors are prepared for the Lions because they have faced some of the top teams in the state this year in No. 4 Barbe, No. 6 Acadiana and No. 17 St. Thomas More.
The Tors are limiting opponents to 242 yards per game and 18 points per game.
While the Lions have picked up 64 percent of their offense on the ground the Tors have used a more balanced game (150 yds rushing per game/132 yds passing per game).
“We love the mix. Our two biggest passing games we lost both of them,” Bourgeois said. “On the other hand, we won our biggest rushing games.
“You have to have the mix because both of them promote each other. It is hard to be lopsided. If you look at our stats and we have as much running as we do passing that lets you know we are having a pretty good game then.”
The threat of passing for junior quarterback Garrett McCain, receivers Dylan Stitzlein and Kadeem Jacob and the backfield tandem of fullback Allen Joseph and tailback Austin Sheperd is not what Carr was hoping for in a first round match up.
“It is not a round one dream match up from our stand point,” Carr said. “The games that we have watched they are very balanced.
“The quarterback (McCain) throws a nice catchable ball and I am impressed with the receivers especially Jacob. He (McCain) looks like someone that has played for a long time. That is one of our biggest concerns is that we have to be able to defend both.”
The Tors’ offense will have its works cut out for them as the Lions defense like the Tors’ has also played some of the top teams in the state. Ouachita district includes No. 1 West-Monroe, No. 9 Byrd, No. 15 Ruston and No. 24 Airline.
“Hopefully our guys understand the urgency that we need to play with,” Carr said. “We are going to have to play one of our better games.
“We have a new defensive staff and it took a couple of games to get used to and we played a tough schedule also.”
On defense, the Lions are led by defensive end Cameron Blakes who leads Ouachita with 68 tackles and is a major threat to quarterbacks with 9.5 sacks.
One thing is for sure, both coaches know that Friday’s contest could go down to the wire.
“It has been six years since we have played them,” Bourgeois said. “The last time was a very exciting game and we were lucky to get the edge. “
“We anticipate a defensive football game,” Carr said. “We are going to have to make some big plays because their defense could give us problems.”
Game notes: Ouachita Parish leads the series 3-2. The Tors have lost both times they have played at Ouachita but the last two games between the Tors and the Lions have been decided by an average of 4.5 points. Three of the Tors four losses this season were by an average of 4.6 points while three of the Lions’ eight wins were by an average of 4.6 points.
