Spring battle

On Tuesday afternoon, the Sacred Heart Trojans and the Mamou Demons met on the gridiron in the spring game for one purpose in mind; to evaluate their personnel and find out how far their teams have progressed in the last 10 days of spring practice.
“We needed to come out here and see where we stand going into the off season,” said Sacred Heart head coach Josh Harper. “We as a coaching staff were really looking to see who was could fill the spaces that were left from the graduating seniors last year.”
For Harper and the Trojans some of those pieces that maybe counted on in the fall could not be evaluated in the spring game. Harper had to suspend a number of players for the spring game because of disciplinary reasons.
Still the second year head coach was pleased with the effort that his squad gave, even only having about 25 players on hand.
“I was very satisfied with the effort the players came to the game with,” said Harper. “I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage and we were very physical. One thing I was especially pleased with was the fact that we made very few mistakes in terms of turnovers and penalties.”
Mamou head coach Brian Brumfield was also complemented his team’s play.
“I thought we played really hard,” commented Brumfield. “We only had five or six days with all of our players on hand this spring. We use the spring game to evaluate our players and find out who we think can help us next year. I am really looking to see who can line up and play football.”
The game was broken down into two 20 minute halves with running time. The start of the game was a little slow for both clubs.
However, Sacred Heart began to move the football late in the first half, controlling the ball on the ground mostly.
The Trojans managed to reach the Mamou 12-yard line with about 1:30 seconds left in the half.
On the very next play, Sacred Heart quarterback Wesley Launey found wide out Alec Gotro on an out route for the first touchdown of the scrimmage.
The second half saw more action as both clubs were able to put the ball in the end zone.
Mamou scored first in the final half. The Demons marched down the field utilizing their quick passing game and found themselves on the Trojan 15-yard line.
Demon quarterback Darius Tezeno hit wing back Shawn Malveaux on a seam route and the young receiver took it in for pay dirt with 15:49 left in the second half.
Not to be outdone, Sacred Heart went on a 70-yard drive of their own, capping it off with another Launey to Gotro touchdown pass; this one from eight yards out with 9:15 left in the game.
Mamou got the ball back once more, but could not gain any momentum. The Trojans regained possession and ran out the clock.
Each coach will be looking to the summer workouts as a tool to getting better in the fall.
“We are going to have to get bigger, stronger and faster,” stated Brumfield. “Our district is one of the toughest in the state and we have to have a good summer to be able to compete in the fall.
Mamou will begin in June and work out on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
“We can only control what happens to us this summer,” stated Harper. “Getting physical, getting stronger and staying disciplined. If we can do that, I think we can win a few more games this season.”
Sacred Heart will work out Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. They will also have a team camp in August to work on team building.