At first glance, Sacred Heart’s 34-14 loss to the Ville Platte High Bulldogs in the T-Cotton Bowl this past Friday may have seemed that the Trojans did not play well.
But, after getting a chance to study the film, head coach Josh Harper found that his team did not play as badly as the score may have indicated.
“When you look at the film the next day, it is never as good as you may have thought, but at the same time it is never as bad as you thought,” stated Harper. “I honestly don’t think we played that bad against Ville Platte. It was just a matter of their athletes making us miss and their front just wearing us down. Right now, we just have to go back and revisit what we did wrong and get those things fixed.”
The Trojans will have to try and get those things fixed quickly, as they face an experienced Oberlin Tiger team tomorrow night that rolled past Pine Prairie 34-0 this past week. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
That game will be a tough road test for Sacred Heart as the Tigers come into the game with 15 returning players, eight on offense and seven on defense. Oberlin was a Class 1A quarterfinalist last season, a fact that is not lost on Harper.
“Oberlin is a quality football team that will test you all night long,” said Harper. “They are big and very physical up front. They run the Wing-T and do not mind just pounding the football. We are going to have to be ready for a knock out drag out battle. Our guys up front will need to be ready to play for 48 minutes. They are definitely a battle tested team.”
One of the concerns for the Trojans is depth. According to Harper, Sacred Heart will have three or four guys questionable for the game tonight.
“All week long we have had to keep it as light as possible so that we can get as healthy as we can for the game,” commented Harper. “We have been getting a lot of installation done and not as much hitting. We are going to have to go with what we have. Guys are just going to have to step it up.”
One positive that came out of the Ville Platte game was the way that the Trojans were able to run the ball. Sacred Heart put up 174 yards on 39 carries. Quarterback Gabe Fontenot rushed for 87 yards on 14 carries to lead the way.
“The one thing that we cannot do is become one-dimensional,” said Harper. “We have to be able to run the ball effectively, but we also have to be able to throw the ball just as effectively.”
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TRACEY JAGNEAUX Sports Editor