The Sacred Heart Trojans hosted the Catholic of Pointe Coupee Hornets Friday night for each team’s first district game of the season. The Hornets controlled the Trojans in every aspect of the contest to claim a 36-12 victory over Sacred Heart.
Sacred Heart fell to 3-3 on the season and 0-1 in district play with the loss. The Trojans travel to Westminster this Friday in another district match-up.
Despite being understandably disappointed, Sacred Heart head coach Josh Harper still gave props to the Hornets. “Hats off to Catholic, they came out and punched us in the mouth that first half,” said Harper. “But our boys still came back and took it to them in that second half, and that’s all you can ask. Just don’t give up, there’s always a chance.”
At the start of the game, the Trojans won the toss and chose to defer to the second half. To the surprise of many, Sacred Heart attempted an on-side kick.
The kick caught Catholic off guard, hitting a Hornet player and falling to the ground. The Trojans were able to pounce on the ball and came away excited with the turnover.
Unfortunately for Sacred Heart, the Hornets had called for a fair catch and the Trojans were penalized for catch interference, giving the ball to the Hornets at the Trojan 44-yard line. It took the Hornets just three plays to get to the Sacred Heart 16-yard line, where Catholic’s Matthew Langlois punched in the rest of the yardage for the touchdown. The Hornets set up for a PAT, but a couple of off sides penalties by Sacred Heart moved the ball closer to the goal line.
With the ball closer to the goal line, Catholic decided to go for two instead. The two-point run was successful, giving the Hornets an 8-0 lead with 10:15 left in the first quarter.
The Trojans tried to establish the run in their first possession of the game, with Noah Soileau doing most of the heavy lifting. But, the Hornets shut that down, forcing a three and out for Sacred Heart.
Catholic started off its next drive following the Trojan punt at its 44-yard line. The Hornets eventually found their way to the Trojan four yard line.
There, Catholic running back Collin Grezaffi blasted through to pay dirt. The extra point off the foot of Aiden Vosburg was good, giving the Hornets up at 15-0 with 2:55 left in the first period.
Sacred Heart tried to find some footing on their next drive, but was only able to gather a total of three yards, forcing the Trojans to punt once again.
Sacred Heart was able to get a stop on Catholic’s ensuing drive, forcing a three and out and relieving some of the pressure that was starting to build.
On the following Trojan drive, quarterback Gabe Fontenot did his best to wake up his offense with a big 37-yard pass to Tyler Perron, putting Sacred Heart on the opposing 16-yard line. Unfortunately, two sacks and a penalty were enough to stop the Trojans, but not before the clock wound into the second quarter.
Catholic started off at their 37-yard line on their next possession and was looking to score just before the half to really set the tone for the game. A 34-yard run by quarterback Nick Carriere placed the Hornets at the Trojan 33-yard line.
After a short pass moved Catholic to the 16-yard line, Grezaffi was able to find the end zone yet again. Vosburg’s extra point was good, improving Catholic’s lead to 22-0 with 6:01 left in the half.
Neither team could find success in the remaining time of the second quarter, as both teams headed to the locker rooms with the Hornets still holding a commanding lead.
Sacred Heart came out of the locker room looking fired up, and it showed in their opening drive. After a few plays, the Trojans found themselves facing a third and four at their own 26-yard line.
Noah Soileau received the handoff on the third down play and took off, sprinting and weaving past all defenders, blasting his way the entire 74 yards for Sacred Heart’s first touchdown of the game. The Trojans went for two, but were unsuccessful, leaving the score at 22-6 in favor of the Hornets with 10:11 in the third quarter.
The teams traded possessions twice after back to back fumbles and ultimately Catholic landed at its own 43-yard line to start their third drive of the quarter. Grezaffi ground out the majority of the yardage, and Langlois put an exclamation point on the drive, finding the touchdown from 13 yards out. The extra point from Vosburg was good, and the Hornet’s lead rose to 29-6 with 2:09 left in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter opened up with Sacred Heart eager to put some points on the board. Thanks to the passing effort from Fontenot, the Trojans took themselves from their own 20-yard line to the Hornet 35-yard line.
Fontenot then found Noah Soileau on a deep pass. Soileau out ran his defender for another Trojan touchdown. Once again the two point conversion was not successful, and the Trojans still faced a 29-12 deficit.
After being able to start their drive on the Trojan 33-yard line on their next possession, the Hornets looked to put Sacred Heart away for good. Catholic managed to take to ball to the eight-yard line, where Carriere finished the drive with an eight yard touchdown run. The extra point from Vosburg was good making it a 36-12 game.
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Sylis Manuel
Staff Reporter