On the right path

VILLE PLATTE -- If Friday night’s contest between the Basile Bearcats was a measuring stick for each team before heading into district, then the 42-14 Trojan win revealed a lot for both clubs.
In the case of the Trojans, the huge win spoke volumes for their tenacity on defense and their churn ‘em and burn ‘em offense.
Sacred Heart came up with two enormous defensive stops inside its own five-yard line. On the opposite side of the ball, the Trojan offense powered their way to drives of 93, 97 and 89 yards on its first three possessions to essentially put the game away mid-way through the second quarter.
“We break the season down into phases,” stated a pleased Sacred Heart head coach Josh Harper. “The non-district season is phase one. We have pushed through that phase undefeated. That was our goal at the start of the season. Now it is time to begin phase two, district play. I am really happy the way our team has come out to begin the year.”
For Basile, lessons from 2016 have not quite been learned, as the Bearcats are still troubled with putting away drives inside the red zone.
“I don’t know how many times we have gotten inside our opponent’s 10-yard line the last two seasons and just cannot finish,” said Basile head coach Kevin Bertrand. “It is something we are going have to continue to work on and try to get better at.”
One of those unfinished drives happened the first time Basile had the football. The Bearcats elected to receive the opening kick-off and proceeded to move the ball from their 32-yard line all the way down to the Sacred Heart six. On first and goal, fullback Andre Reed coughed up the ball as he was just about to cross the goal line, and Sacred Heart’s Alec Gotro pounced on it at the seven-yard line.
The Trojans then proceeded to produce one of the most methodical drives of the season, as they moved the ball 93 yards in 15 plays, capped off by a JT Harper five yard plunge into the end zone. The extra point was true from Gotro, and with 3:43 left to go in the initial quarter, Sacred Heart led 7-0.
Undeterred, Basile began another long drive of their own, starting at the Bearcat 37-yard line. Ten plays later, Basile found themselves in a fourth and goal situation at the Trojan three-yard line.
On the very next play, Bearcat quarterback Dawson Ashford kept the ball over the right side on a sweep, but was bundled up at the one, causing Basile to turn the ball over on downs.
Sacred Heart capitalized on the big defensive stop very quickly. After a 14 yard run by quarterback Wesley Launey on the first play of the drive, Harper scooted over the left side and raced for another 76 yards, down to the Basile four-yard line.
Two plays later, Gotro went in untouched from the three-yard line to hit pay dirt. Gotro tacked on the extra point to give the Trojans a 14-0 lead with 8:47 left to go in the half.
Basile did not go away quietly into the night. Taking over at their 17-yard line on the ensuing kick-off, the Bearcats needed only four plays to respond to the Trojans, when Ashford hit a streaking Jaylen Thomas on the left sideline for a 70 yard pitch and catch. Jacob Guillory added the point after and with 6:29 left in the second quarter, Basile had cut the lead to 14-7.
Sacred Heart was not done with its scoring in the first half. On their next possession, the Trojans put together another time consuming, lengthy drive.
This time it was an 89-yard, 10 play offensive tour de force, capped off by a seven yard Launey to Gotro touchdown pass that ended the drive. The extra point was wide right, however, Sacred Heart had extended their lead to 20-7 with 2:21 left before halftime.
The final score of the second quarter came off of a Basile miscue. Taking over at their 24-yard line after the kickoff, the Bearcats reached their 44-yard line in five plays, but was forced to punt the ball away. Getting some big time special teams help, the Trojans blocked the punt and took over at the Basile 25-yard line with 3.5 seconds to go in the second quarter.
On the last play of the half, Launey launced a ball into the end zone, where he found Harper right underneath the cross bar for the Hail Mary touchdown pass. The two-point run by Harper was converted, and the Trojans went into the locker room with a 28-7 lead.
Sacred Heart found some more magic in their special teams play to start the second half. Gotro hauled in the Basile kickoff and sped down the left side of the field for a 56 yard return.
Four plays later, Harper sprinted 16 yards for his third touchdown of the night. The kick from Gotro was true, and with only 1:30 gone in the thrid quarter, Sacred Heart led 35-7.
The teams traded possessions until late in the third period. With 2:48 left to go, second team wing back Jalen Deville was able to scamper five yards for the final Trojan scoring drive. The point after was good and Sacred Heart had opened up a 42-7 lead.
Basile’s final score of the night came on their last possession of the night. Taking over on their 11-yard line after a 45 yard Trojan punt, Reed blasted over the right side and rolled to the 89 yard touchdown run. Guillory added the extra point to finalize the score at 42-14.
“If our defense does not come up with those two big stops inside our five-yard line, it could have been a totally different ball game,” commented Harper. “But, they bowed their neck and came up with some big plays. Our offensive composure on those long drives was really big. Those things were the key to changing the complexion of the game.”
“We just could not slow down their run game,” said Bertrand. “When you cannot slow down the run game, it make for a long game. We have to have a short memory and get back to work on Monday.”
For Sacred Heart, Harper had another monster game, carrying the ball 12 times for 209 yards and two touchdowns. Launey ended the night nine for 11 for 78 yards and two touchdowns passing and two touchdowns. Gotro hauled in five receptions for 40 yards and a score.
Basile was led on the ground by Reed, who collected 145 yards on 11 rushing attempts and one touchdown. Ashford finished five of seven passing with 152 yards and a touchdown.
The Trojans will travel to False River on Thursday to take on the Gators in the first district contest for both teams.