Sulphur Springs Wildcats Football Preview Part 9
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We’re closing in on the final few installments of our 2022 Sulphur Springs Wildcats football preview. For those of you that have missed the first eight parts, we’ve got you covered with links to each article below. In this one, we have our Halloween matchup as the Wildcats hit the road for the final time of the season.
Week 9 @ Kaufman
There aren’t many familiar foes on the schedule for Sulphur Springs this year, as they have a complete new non-district schedule, as well as a completely new district. Kaufman, however, is the one exception, as they two teams have faced each other in three of the last four season.
All three of the matchups have been close, with Kafuman taking the upper hand in each of them. The closest match of them all was last season, when Sulphur Springs scored 18 points in the second half to put them in position to win.
Despite their big comeback, Kaufman was able to hold on, walking away with the close 34-32 victory. The Lions went on to go 8-4 last season, which was a huge turnaround from a 3-8 season in 2020.
Going 3-3 in district play, Kaufman made the playoffs, where they matched up with Dallas Carter in the opening round. The Cowboys of Dallas Carter were no match for the Lions, despite entering the game match on a seven-game winning streak.
Kaufman took care of business from the very beginning, shutting Dallas Carter out in a 24-0 win. Kaufman met their match in the second round, when they went up against a strong La Vega team. The Lions put up 10 points in the first half, before going on to lose 14-10.
Will the Lions continue their winning ways from 2021, or will they be closer to the teams of 2019 and 2020, who went a combined 6-15?
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The biggest strength Kaufman will have in 2022 is that of their veteran running back, Braxton Garmon. Garmon had an excellent season in 2021, picking up 1187 rushing yards on 192 carries. He also had 15 rushing touchdowns, and averaged 6.2 yards per carry.
Garmon will be asked to carry a lot of the weight offensively, as the Lions lose their leading passer and their two-leading receivers. He did, however, take snaps at quarterback last year and caught 13 passes for 163 yards and one touchdown, so it will be interesting to see how many different ways the senior will be used this season.
Where Kaufman may be lacking in returning players offensively, they make up for with returners on the defensive side of things. Last season the Lions were led in tackles (93) by Jordan Nalls, who was just a junior last year. He will also be helped out by Kylevon Morrow, who had 61 tackles in his sophomore campaign.
They will also be retuning Isaac Leija and Isaiah Leija who led the team with four sacks each in the junior seasons last year. Isaac also had 10 quarterback hurries, while Isaiah had nine.
In the secondary, they will be led by Morrow who we mentioned above. Morrow also had a team-high three interception last year, while Julian Prox and Cody Dickinson each had one interception as juniors last year.
With a strong returning players on defense and a Garmon returning to pace the offense, Kaufman could very well be poised to have another strong season in 2022. This one could very well come down to controlling the clock and winning the turnover battle.
With it being late in the season and the final road appearance for the Wildcats, this game could have serious implications on playoff seeding. Will the Wildcats be able to go into Kaufman on Halloween weekend and pick up the road victory? Let us know what you think.
Tune back in tomorrow for our series finale, where we preview the Wildcats Senior Night matchup against the Anna Coyotes.
*All stats are provided by Maxpreps
Other articles in this series include:
Week 5 vs Liberty-Eylau (Homecoming)
Week 6 vs Community (District Opener)
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