SHS looking for first win of season; hosts Port Barre

The Sacred Heart Trojans will be trying to rebound from a heartbreaking four overtime loss against Iota this Friday as they host the Port Barre Red Devils at Soileau/Landry field. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
Despite the mistakes made against Iota last Friday, the Trojans had several opportunities to take the win over the Bulldogs. According to Sacred Heart head coach Josh Harper, there are a number of positives to take away from the loss.
“The biggest positive we can take away from Friday night is that we never quit,” stated Harper. “All I’ve ever asked of this team from day one since I got here was to give everything they have. They did that Friday night. The outcome was not what we wanted, but they gave me everything they had and they never quit.”
Offensively, Sacred Heart did not put up the big numbers that Harper was looking for. The Trojans had a total of 175 yards, most of those through the air.
Despite fumbling the ball six times, Sacred Heart only had two turnovers, one on the ground and one through the air. However, the coaching staff saw some things that can be worked on this week at practice.
“Going back and looking at the film, we were one key block away from breaking off some big plays,” said Harper. “The times that we did block and the hole was open, we fumbled the ball. So, if we can put it all together, I really believe that we will move the football this season.”
“All of the offensive linemen are new. We have to get their technique down and their footwork down. They are learning. They will develop; it will come.”
Defensively the Trojans played a solid game. Sacred Heart gave up 278 yards of offense. Most of those yards came on two big plays; a 67 yard run and a 30 yard pass. The Trojans did come away with eight huge turnovers.
“I thought we did enough defensively to get a win,” commented Harper. “We held them when we needed, caused some turnovers and made some key stops. Our defense made the plays necessary for us to come away with a win.”
Sacred Heart will face a Port Barre team that is coming off of an opening game loss to Opelousas Catholic, 28-7.
Still, Harper is not taking the Red Devils lightly.
“They are going to be big, strong and fast,” said Harper. “They are a double wing/power I team. They look very solid on film. We are going to have to control the line of scrimmage this week. Our guys up front are going to have to sustain blocks, don’t miss any blocks and make sure we block the right holes.”
“We need to continue to play hard on defense,” continued Harper. “They will be a little quicker than Iota, so we have to be fundamentally sound and stay in our contain areas on defense.”