Injuries, momentum sink Sacred Heart at O.C.
By: RHETT MANUEL
Sports Editor
OPELOUSAS – It couldn’t be overstated how important Thursday night’s District 6-1A road trip to Donald Gardner Stadium to play the Opelousas Catholic Vikings was for the Sacred Heart Trojans.
Much was riding on a good showing: a potentially higher seed in the upcoming Division IV select playoffs, revenge for last season’s loss and most importantly the opportunity to stay alive for a share of the district championship.
Ultimately, big plays and the injury bug once again sunk the Trojans (6-3, 2-2) as the Vikings ran away with a 40-6 win on Thursday night.
With the win, Opelousas Catholic (6-3, 4-0) clinched at least a share of the district championship for the second-consecutive season. The loss also continued Sacred Heart’s winless streak against the Vikings since head coach Josh Harper took the helm several years ago.
It wasn’t for lack of effort on Sacred Heart’s behalf. An early injury to senior Blake Hebert, a second-half injury to offensive lineman Kollon Lafleur and senior quarterback Hayden Droddy being banged up all contributed to the theme of the Trojans playing from behind the eight ball injury-wise all season.
But a dead-even first quarter and a Hayden Droddy six-yard touchdown in the second quarter that gave the Trojans a brief lead eventually gave way to Opelousas Catholic finding its footing, running off 40-unanswered points to steadily pull away from Sacred Heart.
“We came out and gave them a good punch in the beginning,” Sacred Heart head coach Josh Harper said. “Tip your hat to them, they’re a great team. We just didn’t have the bodies to sustain. We’ve got a lot of guys playing both ways and still have guys injured and Blake goes down early as well.”
And when it rains, it pours at times.
After Droddy’s touchdown run with 11:05 left before halftime, Opelousas Catholic responded as they’re known to. Slowly, steadily and assuredly, quarterback Mark Collins led from the front for the Vikings.
All three of O.C.’s second frame touchdowns came from Collins’ legs – runs of two, 46 and eight yards.
Those touchdowns took what was an evenly matched game and blew it out to a 20-6 Viking lead heading into the locker room.
“We came in with a homecoming hangover,” Opelousas Catholic head coach Thomas David said. “And credit to them, they came out and played hard. They had a lot on the table just like we did. They had a chance to claim a share of the district title and they played like it early on.
“We just kind of got our bearings and found a way to make plays as the game went on,” David added.
When they came out of the locker room, O.C. attacked an ailing Trojans’ team with its best athlete in senior Chris Brown.
Brown took advantage of one-on-one coverage for a 34-yard touchdown catch to open the third quarter and wasn’t done.
He added a 91-yard touchdown run and nearly a punt return touchdown where he got overzealous and dropped the ball on the one-yard line for John Michael Jarrell to finish off and extend Opelousas Catholic’s lead to its winning 40-6 margin.