Sulphur hasn’t been a quick-start team this high school football season, but the Tors want to change that.

The Tors have been outscored 64-15 in the first quarter and have led once after the first 12 minutes.

It happened again last week when Sam Houston built a 14-0 first-quarter lead and won despite the Tors scoring 20 fourth-quarter points.

“They showed why they are undefeated and the last one in Southwest Louisiana,” Sulphur head coach Cody Gueringer said. “We started slow again for the fifth time this year.

“It just can’t happen. We can’t turn the football over. We made some mistakes, and we just can’t put ourselves in a hole like that. We can’t give up big plays. We have to be able to sustain drives and score points on those drives, whether it is touchdowns or field goals.

“Everybody has to do a better job, and it all falls on me, and that is all right. Ultimately, we are just trying to get better every single day.”

The Tors (2-3, 1-2 District 3-5A) had one of their best offensive performances against the Broncos with 483 yards, but turnovers and stalled drives have been a problem.

“It is just not finishing drives,” Gueringer said. “We had over 400 yards of offense.

“I thought we moved the ball well, but we just kind of spread it out a little bit, threw a few picks. I will take responsibility. Sometimes maybe we should have run the football. Ultimately, I am going to put my best guys in the best situation possible to score points. We get ourselves behind the sticks. We go down 7-0 or so. We can’t live like that over here. We have to be able to sustain drives and score points and hold teams out of the red zone.”

Sulphur senior quarterback Addison Constance ranks ninth in the state with 1,153 passing yards (92-148-5, 12 TDs)

“Addison has proven it over and over again for us that he is a great quarterback and a great leader,” Gueringer said. “I am going to put the ball in his hands as much as I can.”

The Tors will look to end their two-game losing streak today when they host longtime rival Barbe at Matt Walker Memorial Stadium. The Tors have won three of the last four meetings, including last year’s 29-28 win after rallying from a 21-point deficit.

“When you put ‘Beat” and insert the name of the school on the T-shirt and it sells out, then that is when you know you have a rivalry,” Gueringer said. “Whether it is ‘Beat Barbe’ or ‘Beat Sulphur,’ it is a big deal around here. It is going to be fun to have it at home.”

Gueringer said he has been impressed with the growth of Bucs (2-3, 0-2) freshman quarterback Jelandon Gray (53- 93-5—579, 3 TDs) and junior running back Eric Jones (88-525, 8 TDs).

“You can see from the jamboree to now in a short amount of time the poise the quarterback plays with,” Gueringer said. “I thought the running back has tremendously improved week in and week out.

“They really do a good job of making sure they are schematically sound, giving it to whoever whenever they can. They are not going to lean on one guy. Defensively, they are flying around. They are physical guys. They matched Southside’s physicality on a bunch of drives. They can definitely play some football.

“Their kicking game is really good as well. We know that is a third of the game, so we have to be prepared for that as well. We know that it is going to be a tough opponent.”

Elsewhere

There is a three-way tie for first in District 3-5A between No. 6 Carencro (5-0, 4-0), No. 7 Acadiana (4-1, 4-0) and Sam Houston (5-0, 4-0), but that will change today when Acadiana hosts Sam Houston.

The Broncos are looking to match their 6-0 start in 2018. That streak ended at the hands of the Rams 35-10 in Scott.

Lake Charles College Prep (3-2, 2-0) is on a two-game win streak and shares the lead in District 3-3A with St. Louis Catholic (4-1, 2-0) and defending district champ Iowa (3-2, 2-0). While the Trailblazers will take a break from district play this week, it will not be a walk in the park as they have to make an almost 3-hour trek to play Class 3A No. 3 St. James (4-1). In last year’s matchup, LCCP got within one score in the fourth quarter before the Wildcats pulled away for a 46-27 win.

Westlake (3-2, 0-1) started the season hot but has been held scoreless in back-to-back games and will face the area’s top defense in St. Louis (9.6 ppg).

Kinder will host Jennings as both teams search for their first District 3-3A win. The game will feature two of the area’s top running backs in Jennings’ ReJohn Zeno (567 yds., 6 TDs) and Kinder’s Logan Lebeouf (611 yds., 6 TDs).