We checked out Sacred Heart Cathedral against Sacred Heart Prep this past Saturday and learned a few things.
1. SHC looked different. The helmets, the uniforms were looking clean the even better were the athletes wearing them. This is not your last place or bottom of the standings looking team from the recent past. They look tough and they played tough. Clean up the mistakes and they can definitely upset two or more upper WCAL opponents this season. Look for the Fightin’ Irish to win some games this season and finish as a playoff team
2. Sacred Heart Prep played like a championship-bound team, maybe not this year but definitely next year when all the juniors return for their senior season. This year looks good, however. The match-up next week against St. Ignatius will give us a better and more accurate gauge of how the Gators might do the rest of the way.
3. It is now becoming more common to play and start a freshman on varsity. There’s been a handful of guys in the past 10 years that we can remember but thanks to Serra, the mentality of “if they can play and contribute at the varsity level, why not.” Freshman Aseli Fangupo was out there going against the Fightin’ Irish’s front line on both sides of the ball. His brother was Opeti, a St. Francis alum and the 2018 GSF All-Star Draft first overall pick. Aseli looks like he’s going to be a major star recruit for SHP.
4. Jerry Mixon Jr. is going to be scary down the line once they get the rhythm going on offense. He can be the next unstoppable back in the CCS.
5. Carter Shaw is a diamond in the rough. Cornerbacks don’t get much recognition but Shaw made the biggest game-changing play of the game when he tracked down Ray John-Spears who was on his way to the endzone. Shaw did not just save a touchdown, but he got the ball back for the Gators which led to a 95-yard touchdown pass from QB Jack Herrell to WR Luke Renert who actually made two spectacular catches, one was a one-handed grab that led to a score.
7. Silas Bahlibi of Sacred Heart Cathedral will be a major pest for a lot of the WCAL offenses when he lines up against them in a few weeks starting with Valley Christian on September 24th. He’s got long arms, strong stance and can probably play TE if they really need him to.
8. The best player on the field wore number 8 from the home team, Andrew Latu. Only a junior, Latu was impressive on offense and defense. His last play in the first half really set the tone for the Gators in the second half. He took a handoff all the way to the end zone for a score to start the third quarter and gave SHP the edge.
Overall, the first half of this game was definitely a defensive showdown. The offense then took off and big plays can ignite the scoring spree on both teams. It was nice to see each team respond to the other’s score. Just glad it didn’t end up as a tie game.
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