SULPHUR — Barbe controlled the first half led by sophomore quarterback Jelandon Gray on Friday at Matt Walker Memorial Stadium to win 28-13 over District 3-5A rival Sulphur.

“I thought we came out well, executed early on offense, defense played outstanding,” Barbe head coach Skeet Owens said. “I think our defense contained them. It was a big, solid, good first half for us.”

Grey threw three touchdown passes in the first half and finished with 173 yards on 14 of 21 passing.

“He’s mature, and he’s starting to get more comfortable with the offense (and the) different sets that we do,” Owens said. “Once you’re able to analyze what the defense is doing and try to go to the right spots, hit your receivers at the right time, then obviously he’s doing a much better job of that.”

Like they have done most of the season, the Bucs (6-3, 4-2) scored on their opening possession, a five-play, 58-yard drive. Gray capped the drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Landon Kirklin with 10:22 left in the first quarter.

The Bucs built up their lead with three second-quarter scoring drives. Gray hit Aaron Bellard for a 28-yarder plus a 36-yard score to Luke Leger on third down with 15 seconds left in the first half. Leger had four catches for 56 yards and Kirklin finished with five for 44 yards.

Barbe had 290 yards of total offense at halftime before the game turned into a defensive battle in the second half with just one score.

Sulphur (4-4, 1-5) held the Bucs to 51 yards in the second half and cut the Bucs lead down to 15 on a 33-yard pass from Brodie Depriest to Sawyer Kuypers on third down.

While the offense had its struggles in the second half, the Bucs’ defense forced three turnovers on downs in the fourth quarter each time the Tors crossed into their territory.

“The offense struggled in the second half,” Owens said. “They (Sulphur) were playing hard, chasing things up on us, but we held it together and came out to win.”

Depriest completed 21 of 38 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns, including an 11-yarder to Jordan Jardneaux in the second quarter that cut Barbe’s lead to 14-6.

The Bucs, ranked No. 14 in the unofficial Louisiana High School Athletic Association Non-select Division I power rankings, extended their win streak to three games with one week left in the regular season.

The loss dropped the Tors three spots to No. 31 in the power rankings. They will need a win at Lafayette next week plus some help to get into the playoffs.