Sacred Heart takes down Delcambre; hoping for playoffs

DELCAMBRE - The regular season came to an end Friday night as the Sacred Heart Trojans went on the road and defeated the Delcambre Panthers 48-27. With the win the Trojans evened up their overall 2016 record to 5-5 and improved their stock regarding playoff implications.
The two teams traded scores early as the game was tied up at 13 to close out the first quarter. In the second quarter, Delcambre found some momentum scoring on back-to-back possessions.
The Panthers went up 27-13 with 4:11 on the clock before the half. The rest of the game was all Trojans as the defense came up big after a slow start and as the offense continued to fire on all cylinders.
“We wanted to establish our run,” said Trojan head coach Josh Harper. “The main focus was running out of our spread formation, which is what hopefully springboards us to next year.”
Harper went on to credit his offensive line.
“But none of that can be done unless the offensive line does what they did,” he said. “We finally moved some pieces around during the week. We found a group that were gelling, and those guys can’t do what they do if it wasn’t for the guys up front.”
On the other side of the ball, Harper made a few adjustments between the halves that paid dividends for his team.
“We just told the guys to play hard, play fast, play physical and go hit somebody,” he said. “And they did. They hit them in the mouth in the second half, and the defense stepped up big.”
The Trojans tied the game at 27 with 6:05 on the third quarter clock. The drive began as the football came to rest on the Trojan 44 yard line following a Panther punt.
J.T. Harper carried across the 50 for a second and three before Wesley Launey completed a pass to Daniel Scully for a first down on the Panther 40. Launey then pitched back to Gautreaux who picked up enough for another first down at the 29 yard line. Launey completed two consecutive passes before Harper gained six yards to the eight-yard line bringing up second and four. Launey then kept the ball himself as he ran in for the score.
Harper got the fourth quarter started with a touchdown run from 13 yards out as Sacred Heart took the 33-27 lead at the 11:31 mark of the final quarter of play in regulation. The Trojan defense then pitched a shut out as Delcambre went three-and-out.
After a Delcambre miss play on the punt, the Trojans scored a quick touchdown on a run from Harper and extended the lead to 41-27 following the two-point conversion reception to Alec Gotro.
After another strong effort from the Trojan defense, the offense picked up a first down on the 39-yard line. Harper on the next play from scrimmage took the football 36 yards to the three-yard line for a first and goal situation.
The Trojans scored another touchdown earning style points in the rankings, and the point after was good for a 48-27 Trojan advantage with 6:31 remaining in the game.
With the win against Delcambre and with Pine’s 19-17 win over St. Thomas Aquinas, Sacred Heart got a bump in the rankings and now awaits its fate when the playoff seedings are announced.