How sweet it is

On Sunday morning a sweet sight filled the eyes of the Sacred Heart coaches and players, as they found out one of their team goals had been reached when the Division III playoff brackets were announced.
The Trojans (5-5) will now take the show on the road, as they will travel to Reserve tomorrow night to battle the No. 1 team in the power rankings, the Riverside Rebels. Riverside comes in as the defending state runner-up after losing to Notre Dame in the state championship game one year ago.
How sweet is the chance to play in the post-season for Sacred Heart? Well, considering the Trojans were 2-8 just a season ago and that they had not been in the playoffs since a second round loss in 2013, one could say pretty darn sweet.
But, no matter that Sacred Heart will have to face one of the toughest teams in the state regardless of class or division, Trojan head coach Josh Harper hopes his team will come ready to play and not give a bitter performance.
“Being in the playoffs is such a huge accomplishment for our team,” stated Harper. “I am so proud that we fought our way to be in this position. I really wanted this for the seniors. They deserved this chance. This will also let the underclassmen get a taste of what it is like to be in the post-season.”
“I just want us to come out and play hard and not be intimidated,” he continued. “Besides, we have seen some of the best teams in the state. Just look at our district schedule.”
Sacred Heart got their spot in the playoffs via a tremendous win over Delcambre this past Friday. In that game the Trojans got back to what made them successful at the beginning of the season; a commanding run game. Sacred Heart dominated the Panthers by rushing for 342 yards on 41 carries, an average of 8.1 yards per attempt.
“It has been an up and down season for us in the run game,” said Harper. “Last week we put a big emphasis on getting back to basics. We definitely wanted to dictate the pace of the game and exert our will on them in running the ball. I think we accomplished that.”
One area that Sacred Heart has had some surprising success in was the passing game. That was also evident against Delcambre, as the Trojans threw for 123 yards.
“It has been a week by week process for our passing attack,” commented Harper. “We have improved every week in that area and it has now become something we can rely on. Honestly, I did not know how much that part of our offense would develop from the start of the season. But, it has proven to play a big role in our offense.”
Defensively, Sacred Heart has also had their ups and downs. The middle portion of the season saw the Trojans give up a number of points. But, against the Panthers this past week, Sacred Heart became stingy once again, allowing only 268 yards of offense.
“Playing the teams we played, especially in the heart of our schedule was tough on our defense,” stated Harper. “But, for the most part, our defense has played well. I think we got some of that edge back last week. Hopefully we can carry that with us into the playoffs.”
That defense will have a tall task ahead of them, as Riverside is an offensive force. The 8-1 Rebels come into the game averaging 32.3 points per game. Riverside is well balanced, using their spread offense to gather 1644 total yards rushing and 1366 yards through the air.
“To me they are better than Notre Dame on offense,” said Harper. “They will spread you out and run the zone read. But, if you start to get sucked in, they are very effective in the pass game. We are going to have to be very disciplined and play perfect assignment football. Hopefully, we can force a couple of mistakes and get a few turnovers.”
Defensively Riverside has surrendered some points this season. The Rebels give up an average of 14 points per game and have given up 20 or more points three times during the year.
“They don’t look as good on defense as they do on offense,” commented Harper. “Our plan is to establish the run game and try to keep control of the football. The more we have the ball, the less their offense has it. One thing we cannot do is turn it over or kill drives with penalties.”
Regardless of the outcome of tomorrow’s contest, the Trojans will hopefully retain the sweetness of this opportunity and get a craving for more.