SH prepares for rivalry game against St. Ed’s
By: RHETT MANUEL
Sports Editor
VILLE PLATTE – There’s few rivalries that get as heated as Sacred Heart and St. Ed’s do.
Over the past several years, the rivalry has become a game that both teams circle on their calendars as must-win.
Last year was the rare instance where the teams played twice, with Sacred Heart taking both matchups including a 19-13 win to eliminate St. Ed’s from the Division IV playoffs.
Yet with Sacred Heart struggling over the past month but still sitting at 4-2 overall, the Trojans are hoping a bowl of Blue Jay gumbo will fix its ailments. Sacred Heart is hoping to help itself to its first district win of the year this Friday night in District 6-1A play.
“Since I’ve gotten here, it’s one of those rivalries that you don’t need much talking and motivation,” Sacred Heart coach Josh Harper said. “We’re ready to play it. Fans are ready. It’s one of those games you look forward to. You like getting the best out of both teams. They’re going to give us their best, and we’ll give them our best. It’s usually a pretty competitive game.”
Sacred Heart’s issues have compounded over the past month after a red-hot start to the year. Facing tough defensive teams while facing a multitude of injuries has put Sacred Heart behind the eight-ball.
Those issues came to a head last week, when Sacred Heart opened district play with a 42-14 loss to Catholic-Pointe Coupee where they were shutout 28-0 in the second half.
Matters weren’t helped when junior wide receiver Landon LeBlanc went down with a knee injury at the beginning of the second half. LeBlanc, Evangeline Parish’s leading receiver to this point of the season, will be unavailable for action this week.
“He did an MRI today and we’re waiting on results,” Harper said. “You had that game and you had a couple kids out. We had some second quarter momentum and went into half tied at 14. But, Catholic’s a physical and well-coached team. You come into the second half, you lose a guy like (LeBlanc) and it kind of spirals out of control.
“He’s a key guy offensively and defensively. Now, you’re switching guys around into spots they didn’t practice. When you play them, you have to be so gap sound. We could never get that momentum back.”
St. Ed’s is coming off of a 49-8 win against a much-improved North Central squad to open its district slate last week.
This season, the Blue Jays have gone as freshman running back Ke’Von Johnson has gone. He’s had a standout campaign, averaging over 200 yards per game rushing with 14 touchdowns to his name.
So, it comes as no surprise where Sacred Heart’s focus will be defensively this Friday.
“Defensively, we have to shut him down,” Harper said of Johnson. “He’s going to be a special one. You watch him on film and he’s got a bright future. They also still have (Taylor) Daire from last year, who they moved to receiver.
“They’re young, but their future is bright over there. They do good things on film and have put up some numbers. We have to set the tone defensively. We had some success last week in establishing the run. We’re hoping to continue that, control the ball and continue that. I think that and playing defense will be the key to winning this game.”