Sacred Heart looks to carry momentum into home opener

Jamboree games are not supposed to carry much weight. They are supposed to be a way to find out how far a team has come in a game-like situation. But, when that jamboree is played against a long time rival, jamborees become more than what is normally intended.
That was definitely the case for the Sacred Heart Trojans this past Friday, as they took a solid 20-0 win over St. Ed’s. For Sacred Heart head coach Josh Harper and the team it was definitely a momentum builder heading into their first regular season home contest against Iota tomorrow night. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
“When you play against a rival like St. Ed’s and win, it is always great for your momentum going into the season,” stated Harper. “I thought we were more physically ready than we were last year. The year spent in the weight room looks like it is paying off. It seemed we felt more comfortable with the schemes on both offense and defense. I was extremely happy with our mental focus. We had some kids step up for us and showed they can play. That will definitely give us some much needed depth.”
One area that was really impressive from a Trojan standpoint was the defensive effort against the Blue Jays. Sacred Heart held St. Ed’s to only 41 yards the entire night. Even more so, what impressed Harper the most was the physicality of the defense.
“We hit harder on defense Friday night than we did all last season,” said Harper. “I believe that because we were more comfortable with our defensive game plan, the players were able to react quicker and play faster. If we are going to be successful this season, we will need to keep playing physical and fast on defense. I know we were probably more fired up because we were playing St. Ed’s, but we must keep up that type of intensity.”
Offensively Sacred Heart moved the ball effectively in there single wing formation. In fact the Trojans gained 198 total yards. But, Harper would like to see his team become more efficient in their spread set.
“I was hoping to be a little more successful when we spread out our offense,” commented Harper. “We will have to work on that more at practice. We are going to need to be more balanced on offense. Also, we need to clean up some things on the offensive front. We missed a few blocks, but we will get that straightened out at practice.”
Harper believes if the Trojans can play with the mental focus and intensity they played with in the jamboree, they will have a good shot at an opening win against Iota.
“They are bigger than us,” commented Harper. “But, if we can come out and play as well as we did this past Friday, I really believe we have a good chance of getting that ever important opening win.”