The Sacred Heart Saints senior football team is 1-1 on major tests this season.
After a close win at Melville to open the season, the Saints have collected three straight easy wins.
They got fifth win last Thursday against arguably the toughest team in Conference 3 this season.
It was supposedly their biggest game against a proven opponent and Sacred Heart escaped with a 17-7 win on home turf against the Fort Qu'Appelle Marauders.
"They're a pretty good team," acknowledges Sacred Heart quarterback Jonathan Bell."We were expecting that to be the toughest game of the season. They came out strong."
The Marauders wore down Saints running back Preston Liebrecht who's reached 150 yards rushing in a single game this year.
Against Fort Qu'Appelle, there was none of that.
"They took away Preston," says Bell.
Sacred Heart did manage to take an early 7-0 lead off a Bell pass to Logan Coutts.
"....after that, it was really tough to get points on the scoreboard," Bell recalled.
Sacred Heart then tried to eliminate scoring threats by the Marauder running back, says Bell.From then on in, it was a defensive spectacle.
Chad Holinaty, coach of the SHHS senior team, said Bell's improvements through their 5-0 start are reason to get excited around Sacred Heart.
"He's growing. He's seeing the field better."
Holinaty says Bell is getting better because he avoids getting "locked into one receiver."Against Fort Qu'Appelle however, the entire offence struggled to move the ball, but Holinaty said it was a game that put into test everything they have learned to this point in the season and they won't take anyone lightly."It was good for the team. It shows how tough the defence played.From here, it does not get easier.
Up next is Lumsden, a team that has racked up more wins in the past year and a half than Yorkton, and they've got the experience of having playoff success on their side going into the Sacred Heart match.
"They're currently 5-0 and are defending provincial champs," states Holinaty, who added "we're talking about a team that's been very strong and dominant.
The game is in Lumsden tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. The Sacred Heart bus leaves at 11:30 a.m.
