Another battle royal took place at Sulphur last Friday night when Washington and the Bulldogs had to go to overtime to decide the contest, 28-27 in favor of Sulphur.

After Sulphur went up by seven in the overtime period the Warriors punched it in on a nine-yard pass from Creed Barrett to Case Alexander and then decided to roll the dice and go for two and the victory.

The Warrior brains trust called for Barrett to roll out on a boot pass play.

With the receivers covered, Barrett tucked the ball and dove for the pylon.

As he dove a pair of Bulldog defenders were closing in. The ball slipped out of his hands just inches shy of the pylon.

“The ball hit the pylon,” head coach Brad Beller said. “It was a good call by the official and a good defensive call by Sulphur.

“They blitzed and Creed tried to go low for the pylon,” Beller continued. “We always talk about it being a game of inches but rarely does the last play come down to inches but it did the other night.”

Barrett’s arm heaved a 64-yard touchdown pass to Jefferson Hodges to open the Warrior scoring in the first quarter.

Junior Jaxon McKinney dove in for a two-yard touchdown in the second period followed by a Enzo Fernandez kick.

Barrett found Alexander open in the fourth stanza for a 13-yard touchdown with Barrett running for the two-point conversion.

Alexander finished the night with six receptions for 84 yards and the two scores. He also led the team in tackles with 13 including one tackle for loss.

“He emptied his bucket the other night for his teammates,” Beller said. “As talented as he is, he showed what it is to be a Washington Warrior.”

But the coach confirmed other players had good games as well.

“Creed had a good game on the offensive side of the ball,” Beller said.

The junior signal caller was 13 of 23 passing for 203 yards and the trio of touchdowns. As a team, Washington rushed the pigskin 35 times for 122 yards and the McKinney score.

Beller noted the play of sophomore cornerback Bo Beard.

“He had to cover man-to-man all night. He did a great job and broke up several passes. Jaxon McKinney stepped up and did a good job of making plays from his safety position.

“We played hard,” Beller noted. “We just were not very consistent with execution on both sides of the ball.

“And give credit to Sulphur. Playing that game is going to help us. It’s being put in those situations. We are going to benefit from that game,” he said.

Up next is intra-county rival Purcell Friday night 7 p.m. at Reed Field.

“They are coming off a big win versus their rival Lindsay plus having a bye week,” Beller said. “They’ll come in with a lot of confidence with the Lindsay win.

“We’ve got to come out and be physical and focus on the task at hand and not allow the loss at Sulphur to deter our path and preparation for this week.”

Beller reports the Dragons operate out of the Flex Bone on offense.

“They run it as good as anybody runs it,” the coach said. “They base out of a 4-3ish defense. They play extremely hard. They know their assignments and play extremely well.”

Beller said the keys to winning are to win on first down on defense and finish drives when they cross the 50-yard line.

Warrior notes:

Head coach Brad Beller nominated Case Alexander as the Defensive Player of the Week. Alexander made 13 tackles including one TFL.

The Defensive Lineman of the Week nominee was Dom Palumbo who registered two tackles.

Getting the nod as the Offensive Lineman of the Week was Evan Painter, who graded out at 72 percent.

Beller also nominated Alexander as the Offensive Player of the Week for his six pass receptions for 84 yards and two touchdowns.