Prep2Prep will be providing season previews of select football teams from student contributors. Today we present a preview of Sacred Heart Cathedral, courtesy of Sacred Heart Cathedral sophomore Nicholas DeFanti.
SACRED HEART CATHEDRAL FIGHTIN' IRISH
Head Coach: Barry McLaughlin
Last year's record (finish): 1-3 (1-2, 5th WCAL)
Schedule
August 28 at Sacred Heart Prep (L 28-21)
September 3 vs Palma
September 10 at Burlingame
September 24 vs Valley Christian
October 1 vs Saint Francis
October 8 vs St. Ignatius
October 15 at Bellarmine
October 22 vs Archbishop Riordan
October 28 vs Serra
November 6 at Archbishop Mitty
Key departures: WR/DB Tyrice Ivy, OL/DL Geoffrey Hester, QB Cian Dowling, DL Evan Branch-Hayes
Players to watch: QB Aidan McGrath (So.), RB/WR Ray-john Spears (Sr.), RB/LB Jerry Mixon (Jr.), WR/LB Bruce Uperesa (Sr.)
Coming off an unusual season in the midst of a pandemic, the Sacred Heart Cathedral football team will be looking to bounce back from a tough season, in which the Irish finished 1-3. Recently, we had the privilege of speaking with head coach Barry McLaughlin on his outlook for the 2021 season.
“We were very limited during the pandemic.” McLaughlin said. “We trained for a couple of weeks in July of 2020, then for 10 weeks spanning from September-November and then nothing until February. The announcement came that football was on and we had to hit the ground running. It was a challenge to get going but the team made progress every week.”
When asked what he planned on improving from the previous season, McLaughlin said: “We must learn how to be consistent. Can we eliminate mistakes and repeat doing things correctly? The big question is when adversity strikes, how will we respond? If and when we improve on those things, we can be a good football team.”
There’s no doubt that inconsistent practice/training dates, along with playing through pandemic restrictions can affect consistency in the team’s play as well as player development. With the new season ahead and restrictions being either lessened or lifted, the team’s consistency and success may be much more attainable, as the new team will build chemistry, and understand the system at a much higher level.
As expected, McLaughlin will have to teach his system to a partially new group of athletes, with the departure of seniors and incoming players from lower classes and transfers.
“The Class of 2021 had many talented seniors. They were the first class of my head coaching career so I will always hold a place for them in my heart," said McLaugjhlin. "You just don’t replace (OL/DL) Geoffrey Hester, (WR/DB) Tyrice Ivy, (QB) Cian Dowling, and (DL) Evan Branch-Hayes. They all were outstanding players."
McLaughlin will have a new quarterback - sophomore Aidan McGrath - but the team returns some offensive experience with two seniors, RB/WR Ray-john Spears, and Prep2Prep all-CCS candidate WR Bruce Uperesa. Another name to look for is junior running back Jerry Mixon Jr. He is the cousin of former Freedom star and current Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon.
"The key to this season is our depth and development of our current players," McLaughlin said. "We feel that with added depth we will be able to absorb the losses from the Class of 2021.”
Although there are many improvements and changes the team must make to reach a higher success level than last year, McLaughlin and the Irish faithful have every right to be optimistic for the new season, as improved depth and a fresh start to a more normal season can be key factors in the team’s success.
