Sacred Heart travels to take on defending champs Notre Dame

A daunting task lies ahead for the 4-1 Sacred Heart Trojans tomorrow night, as they travel to take on the defending Division III state champion Notre Dame Pioneers. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
Notre Dame comes into the game a perfect 5-0 and has been fairly dominant in those games. The Pioneers average 32 points per game on offense and give up 14 points per game on defense. Besides the two district wins in the last two ballgames, Notre Dame has defeated three Class 4A opponents in non-district.
However, Sacred Heart head coach Josh Harper, sees some drop off on the defensive side of the ball for the Pioneers from last season.
“Teams are scoring more on them this year than last year,” stated Harper. “I know it is hard to replicate what they did defensively in 2015. I mean that was probably the best defense I have seen in my coaching days. But, they seem to have some soft spots in the defense this year, especially in the secondary. I don’t think they are sound at every position.”
The Trojans come into the game averaging over 271 yards per game on offense. A big percentage of those yards come on the ground, as Sacred Heart gains an average of 193 yards in the run game per contest. Still, Harper understands that it will be tough to move the ball against a more vulnerable, albeit, super solid Notre Dame defense. “We are going to have to find other ways to get the offense moving against them besides the run,” said Harper.
“We may have to utilize the short passing game as an extension of the running game. We are always looking to add new wrinkles to the offense. Hopefully we can move the ball a little and control the ball, because their offense is a lot better than it was last year. We need to try to keep it out of their hands.”
Playing the defending state champions on their home turf will be a demanding assignment, and Haper has no illusions of what it will take to bring down the Pioneer juggernaut.
“I want us to go out and compete, no matter what happens in the game,” commented Harper. “For me, I just want to see us play hard, tackle hard, block hard; just leave everything on the field and let the chips fall where they may. We are hoping to use this game to clean up a few things and work on some things that we have not been doing as well as we would like. I really think the players are up to the challenge.”