Defense, offense, it's all the same for Sacred Heart Prep

Sacred Heart Prep scored 44 points in its latest nonleague football victory, a 44-0 pasting of visiting San Mateo on Saturday. In all fairness, the defense should take direct credit for 24 of those points.

Then again, most of the defensive players are offensive players. They can all give themselves a pat on the back for a job well done entering a bye week.

"The defense has been playing well all year long," Gators' coach Mark Grieb said. "They were facing a different kind of offense in the option and they rose to the occasion."

Grieb said it wasn't possible to single out any one defender and SHP junior linebacker J.P. Frimel knows why.

"We're always prepared, we're disciplined and ready to go," he said. "We get a great game plan and execute it. We play together well and we have a lot of good energy."

After back-to-back 3-win seasons, the Gators (5-0) have rediscovered their mojo. 

After five games last season, SH Prep was 1-4 and allowing 30 points a game while scoring just under 20. One year later and those numbers have shifted wildly in opposite directions.

The Gators have nearly doubled their offensive output to 36.6 points a game and shaved off nearly 67 percent of the fat on defense, allowing an average of 8.6 points.

"The big thing for us is how we roll with the punches on defense," SHP senior linebacker John Willard said. "They started hurting us with their inside runs and the coaches switched things up. We're flexible like that and we have a lot of depth."

The Gators took a 7-0 lead after stopping San Mateo on its first possession. Raymond Price III marched SH Prep down the field and took care of the final seven yards himself.

That's when the defense began to make its mark on the contest, recovering a fumble that led to a Ronan Donnelly 34-yard field goal early in the second quarter and then intercepting a pass to set up another touchdown, the first of two Tevita Moimoi's one-yard scoring plunges.

The Bearcats (1-4) were driving midway through the second quarter when Tommy Barnds picked off a pass at his own 20-yard line and returned it 67 yards.

Barnds added an eight-yard touchdown run to help Sacred Heart Prep bring a 23-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The first six minutes or so of the second half was a coaches worst nightmare or a coaches best-case scenario depending on which sideline they occupied.

Senior Jack Kirkham, in his role as defensive end, incited things by stripping the ball from a San Mateo running back and taking it 20 yards for a touchdown.

San Mateo expected Donnelly's ensuing kickoff to roll into the end zone but the ball stubbornly avoided the goal line and the Bearcats were forced to cover on their own one-yard line.

Three plays later the Bearcats punted out of their own end zone. SHP returner Brian Tinsley, who also punts for SHP, raced 23 yards to set up Moimoi's second 1-yard scoring run.

On the following kickoff, the Bearcats acted like pinball bumpers (the sun was in their eyes and the ball did take a few crazy bounces) and William Wachhorst was there to nab the loose ball out of the air, giving the Gators possession on SM's 18-yard line.

Joseph Hill took the next handoff and sprinted, nearly untouched, into the end zone for the final score of the game.

"The turnovers were a culmination of everything we were doing on defense," Willard said.

J.P.'s take? "That's guys being hungry and wanting to win."

The Gators have an extra week to prepare for its Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division against visiting Aragon (0-4) on Oct. 5 at 3:30 p.m. The Dons won 10 of 12 games last year.

"We have to rest up and get ready for a tough league schedule," Grieb said.

Willard, who works in harmony with several other defensive teammates like Charlie Selna, Ben Horvath, Jake Davison, Peter Desler, Joey Dahlkemper and Cole Gurtner, among others, said it's a good league and letting up is not an option.

"We have respect for every team," Willard said. "At the same we know we're capable of playing with those teams too."

And J.P. gets the last word: "We can't let up. We have to work just as hard for Aragon and we have to be ready for them."