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It’s good news and bad news for the Sacred Heart Prep football team as it heads into its first postseason action in the program’s history.
“The good news is that we’re playing in the postseason,” said Frank Rodriguez, SHP’s athletic director. “The bad news is that we’re going to Ferndale.”
The Gators (8-2) will open their first venture into the playoffs on Saturday when it visits the champions of the Humboldt-Del Norte/Little 4 League in a North Coast Section A playoff game at 1 p.m. Ferndale is located about 20 miles south of Eureka, which means SHP will have to leave Friday.
Rodriguez spent much of Monday scrambling around trying to make reservations and other plans for the trip after SHP coach Pete Lavorato attended the NCS seeding meeting at Las Lomas High in Concord on Sunday.
Lavorato went in figuring his team held the tiebreaker and would receive the No. 1 seed out of the Bay Football League, based on previous seeding policies the past few years where the league champ gets a top-four seed. Lavorato held that tiebreaker since Day 1 after drawing the short straw at the first league meeting.
On Sunday, however, Salesian (9-1) was given the league’s No. 1 seed (No. 3 for the playoffs) based on its record. King’s Academy (7-2) got the No. 2 (No. 5 for the playoffs) based on its 28-27 win at Sacred Heart Prep on Saturday. And SHP was left with the league’s final berth (No. 7 overall), despite the fact all three teams tied for the league title with 4-1 records.
The Gators knew they were headed to the playoffs even before Saturday’s loss after picking up a forfeit win over Salesian (after a 9-0 loss) when a Salesian player was ruled ineligible after joining the team late and failing to participate in the NCS-specified 10 practices before playing in a game.
“We thought we were going to host a game,” said Rodriguez, who was informed of the forfeit win last Thursday. “But, the kids are excited and we’re happy to still be playing.”
Sacred Heart Prep could have won the league title outright had it kicked an extra point for a tie instead of going for two points and the win against King’s. Lavorato, knowing his team held the tiebreaker, may have figured he had nothing to lose by going for the win.
The Gators’ attempt, however, failed and then the league meeting turned SHP’s postseason upside down.
Should Sacred Heart get by Ferndale, which didn’t allow a point in league play and lost to No. 1 seed St. Patrick/St. Vincent (10-0) during the regular season, the Gators could play Salesian again in the semifinals.
In the loss to King’s on Saturday, SHP sophomore Matt Walter rushed for a career-high 234 yards on just 12 carries while Joe Perry added 108 yards on eight carries.
Walter scored touchdowns on runs of 15, 80 and 19 yards while Perry added a 74-yard scoring run.
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