Sacred Heart takes to the road for shot at first district win

When the Sacred Heart Trojans (3-3, 0-1) go on the road tomorrow night to face off against the Westminster Crusaders (5-1, 1-0) they will be looking to get back into the district race after a tough 36-12 loss to the Catholic of Pointe Coupee Hornets this past Friday night.
Game time against the Crusaders is set for 7 p.m.
According to Sacred Heart head coach Josh Harper, the game against the Hornets was exactly what he thought in terms of physicality.
“We knew it was going to be a tough match-up for us,” stated Harper. “We came into the game down a couple of players and we also lost a couple more during the game. When that happens it is hard to overcome a team that is most definitely as physical as they were. We just have to work hard to let it go. Right now we are still in the fight for a home playoff game. We just have to focus on finishing the rest of the season strong and hopefully we will fall in that spot that allows us to host that first round playoff game.”
One major change that Sacred Heart has made this season that has given them the opportunity to be in the hunt for a home playoff game is the concentrated focus on the running game they have been known for the past five years.
At the beginning of the 2019 campaign, the Trojans tried to stay as balanced as they could on the offensive side of the ball. But, despite the effort in that department, Sacred Heart found themselves 0-2 to begin the season.
Since their re-focus on the single wing running attack and on a concerted defensive effort, the Trojans had reeled off three straight wins before their loss to Catholic.
Now, Sacred Heart must continue to get production out of its run game, even with the hobbling of some of their key players.
“We will be coming into this game with some question marks in terms of personnel because of the injuries that we have had over the past couple of weeks,” said Harper. “We have a few players that still dealing with nagging injuries that hopefully will be able to go tomorrow night.”
“We are going to need them against Westminster,” Harper continued. “They return a lot of players. They are big up front, and, last year, they played us tough for the first half of the game. It does not matter who they have played this year, they are still 5-1. I have no doubt they will come ready to play, so we better strap it up.”
The Crusaders’ wins have come over Delcambre, Houma Christian, Hanson, Ascension Christian and North Central. Their one loss came at the hands of Highland Baptist.
Westminster averages 29.7 points per game and surrenders 20 points per game on defense.