Familiar territory awaits Trojans in Monroe

The Trojans of Sacred Heart are fresh off their first playoff win since 2005 after defeating the Lafayette Christian Academy Knights 35-0 in front of the SHHS crowd. The impressive win moves the Trojans to the regional round of the playoffs where they will make a long trip north to Monroe. The Division IV second seed, Ouachita Christian, awaits the Trojans for the second straight year. The Eagles dominated the Trojans in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs 43-15 before winning the state championship 20-8 over Haynesville.
In 2005 it was the Eagles who eliminated the Trojans from the playoffs after their first round win. This is a trend that Sacred Heart Head Coach Doug Guillory seeks to end.
“Things are different this year over here,” Guillory said. “We are really close. We have all become like a family. The boys and us, the coaches, we know it is just us. I think that will help us out a lot. Last year, we were still learning one another.”
The Trojans will battle an Eagle team that is 8-2 on the year and was 4-1 in league play. The Eagles’ two losses came to Union Parish and then Mangham. The Farmers destroyed the Eagles 42-0 in a non-district game. The Mangham Dragons slipped by OCHS 28-31 to win District 1-1A. While the Eagles have played a very tough schedule, they still managed to produce nearly 30 points a game, while allowing only two scores a game on average.
The SHHS performance last week against the Knights was nothing less than stellar. The SHHS defensive line, led by Bevan Dupre and Hayden Estilette, simply dominated the game and set the tone. Overall, LCA managed to make just one significant drive all night, but still did not put up any points.
This week, the offensive timing patterns that Ouachita Christian uses will have to be disrupted. The Trojans will lean on Dupre and Estilette to attack the OCHS offensive line and disrupt the offensive patterns. The Eagles run a similar offense to that of the Teurlings Catholic Rebels. To stop offenses like this one thing seems to work time and time again. Attacking the offensive line and eventually pushing them into the offensive backfield.
The Trojans did an amazing job of getting the ball in different hands last week. Wesley Fontenot handed the ball off to several people, including Evan Mire and Grant Manuel who each reached the end zone. Manuel led all rushers with 99 yards on the ground. Ellis Parrott, the usual Trojan weapon on offense, was not necessarily taken out of the game by the Knights but he did draw a lot of attention away from other sources of firepower.
How the Eagles prepare for Sacred Heart will be interesting. If OCHS takes away Parrott, which is expected, the burden of responsibility to move the ball will fall back on several sets of shoulders. That proved to be a good thing last week and could again this week. Sharing some of that burden is the SHHS offensive line. The unit played an amazing game last week and in week nine against Point Coupee Central. However, they were trounced against St. Ed’s in week 10. Which group will rise or fall will determine the outcome of the game.
For the 15th seeded Trojans to pull off the upset, it will take a total team effort and it all centers around the offensive and defensive lines. The Eagles’ offense needs to be pushed off the field and not allowed to sustain drives that not only puts up points, but will also eat the clock.
The Trojans have learned a lot over the last week or two. Not just about their opponents, but themselves. They have the talent to pull off, what could be the biggest upset in school history, but the right group has to show up. It is a real possibility the Eagles could be overlooking the Trojans or even underestimate them. Either way, it will be a tough fight for the local kids as they head back to Monroe.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. tomorrow night.