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The Sulphur Tors put their loss last week behind them to win their home opener 49-24 over the Carroll Bulldogs on Friday night.
The Tors took advantage of good field position on their first two drives getting a seven yard touchdown run by starting quarterback Garrett McCain and a six yard rush by Allen Joseph also resulting in a touchdown giving Sulphur a 14-0 lead mid-way through the first quarter.
Tors head coach Paul Bourgeois credits the two early touchdowns to the excitement of playing at home in front of a pro-Sulphur crowd.
“We played great all day and it was great just to come back and play in front of a home crowd,” said Bourgeois. “I want to thank the crowd for coming out tonight. It made a difference for the kids.”
Carroll responded with a 68-yard drive capped off by a 31-yard touchdown reception by Cordell Collins from Xavier Gray. Tahj Jones came off of the left side to block the extra point to make the score 14-6 at the end of the first quarter.
The Bulldogs drew closer to the Tors on Carroll’s third drive of the second quarter. Pierre Martin took the Bulldogs into the end zone on a 38-yard run for a score. A failed two-point conversion gave Sulphur a two point advantage with a score of 14-12.
But the Tors didn’t panic. McCain led Sulphur on a 66-yard drive with McCain scoring his second touchdown of the game on a three-yard run to extend the lead to 21-12 halftime score.
Bourgeois said that getting the two early touchdowns gave the Tors confidence, even when Carroll was threatening to tie the game.
“It’s confidence, and that’s what made a big difference for us in the game,” said Bourgeois. “But they almost came back and tied it up. Getting those early kept us going and kept us rolling with confidence and a lot of that had to do with us being at home in front of our people.”
The Tors defense held the Bulldogs to a three-and-out to begin the second half, but the offense failed to move the ball and was forced to punt. But the snap on the punt went over punter Austin Shepherd’s head and Carroll took control of the ball on the Sulphur nine-yard line.
The Bulldogs scored on their second play from scrimmage on a nine-yard run by Martin to make the score 21-18 Sulphur leading.
The Sulphur Tors put their loss last week behind them to win their home opener 49-24 over the Carroll Bulldogs on Friday night.
The Tors took advantage of good field position on their first two drives getting a seven yard touchdown run by starting quarterback Garrett McCain and a six yard rush by Allen Joseph also resulting in a touchdown giving Sulphur a 14-0 lead mid-way through the first quarter.
Tors head coach Paul Bourgeois credits the two early touchdowns to the excitement of playing at home in front of a pro-Sulphur crowd.
“We played great all day and it was great just to come back and play in front of a home crowd,” said Bourgeois. “I want to thank the crowd for coming out tonight. It made a difference for the kids.”
Carroll responded with a 68-yard drive capped off by a 31-yard touchdown reception by Cordell Collins from Xavier Gray. Tahj Jones came off of the left side to block the extra point to make the score 14-6 at the end of the first quarter.
The Bulldogs drew closer to the Tors on Carroll’s third drive of the second quarter. Pierre Martin took the Bulldogs into the end zone on a 38-yard run for a score. A failed two-point conversion gave Sulphur a two point advantage with a score of 14-12.
But the Tors didn’t panic. McCain led Sulphur on a 66-yard drive with McCain scoring his second touchdown of the game on a three-yard run to extend the lead to 21-12 halftime score.
Bourgeois said that getting the two early touchdowns gave the Tors confidence, even when Carroll was threatening to tie the game.
“It’s confidence, and that’s what made a big difference for us in the game,” said Bourgeois. “But they almost came back and tied it up. Getting those early kept us going and kept us rolling with confidence and a lot of that had to do with us being at home in front of our people.”
The Tors defense held the Bulldogs to a three-and-out to begin the second half, but the offense failed to move the ball and was forced to punt. But the snap on the punt went over punter Austin Shepherd’s head and Carroll took control of the ball on the Sulphur nine-yard line.
The Bulldogs scored on their second play from scrimmage on a nine-yard run by Martin to make the score 21-18 Sulphur leading.
Sulphur responded back on the next drive with Will Hassien breaking a tackle in the backfield on his way to a 46-yard touchdown run to further extend the lead for the Tors 28-18.
On the ensuing Carroll drive on third and eight from the 40-yard line, Nick Tramonte intercepted Gray from the Sulphur 48 yard line and returned it to the end zone for a touchdown and a 35-18 lead.
“Always a big play like that is going to give you momentum,” Bourgeois said on Tramonte’s return for a touchdown. “I’d have to say it always helps to get a momentum swing like that.”
And the Tors kept the momentum by holding the Bulldogs to another three and out and using good field position to set up an eight-yard touchdown pass from Logan Nezat to Tyler Butler to put the Tors out front 42-18.
Martin scored Carroll’s final points of the night on a one-yard run to cap off a 65-yard drive to make the score 42-24.
On the ensuing kickoff, Calvin Peco took the ball from the 14-yard line to the end zone on a 86-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to make the final score 49-24.
The Tors had three fumbles in the game, but thanks to some big plays all over the field, they didn’t come back to hurt them.
“We are a type of team where we have to play almost perfect,” said Bourgeois on the Sulphur turnovers. “Turnovers are something we can’t do. Luckily tonight we had some big plays that counted like the kickoff return. I know we won’t always be that lucky, so we are going to have to get rid of the turnovers.”
Hassien led all rushers in the game with 95 yards on nine carries with a touchdown for the Tors. Joseph added 46 yards and a touchdown and McCain had two touchdowns with 28 yards.
McCain went 6-for-12 passing in the start for Sulphur with 59 yards. Nezat completed his only pass for a touchdown.
Dylan Stitzlein caught three passes for 55 yards.
Defensively, Jones had two and a half sacks for the Tors and Tramonte had two picks for a total of 50 yards in return yardage and a touchdown.
Bourgeois was happy with the way his team played against a talented Carroll team.
“Overall we made an improvement (from last week against Lafayette),” said Bourgeois. “They were good offensively. The bottom line is we played a good team with some talent and they got theirs."
Martin finished with 84 yards for Carroll on 13 carries with three touchdowns. Gray went 11-for-19 passing with 114 yards and a touchdown along with 38 yards on the ground.
Now the Tors turn their attention to a Carencro team that are coming off of two losses in a row (69-13 loss against Barbe and 42-22 against Catholic-Baton Rouge).
This next week will be the first time this season that the Tors are going to have a full week to prepare for the next opponent.
Coach Bourgeois thinks that this year’s team has the potential to be successful, they just need the game experience.
“I think we have an opportunity to be a successful football team,” said Bourgeois. “A lot of it is us trying to get back in a routine. We are going to get into a very tough season, but we just need experience.”
