DAVID COOK
Sports Scene
Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart turned in a big season in 8-man football last season and the Irish have a large group of returning players from that team that are setting their sights. On another big season this fall.
Sacred Heart turned in a 9-2 overall record last season including a 5-1 mark in the Central Michigan 8-man Football Conference as the Irish finished in a tie for the conference championship.
A host of starters return from that squad including several key parts of an offense that averaged 41 points per game a year ago. Jason Boge returns at quarterback for the Irish. A versatile signal caller, Boge is a strong runner and accurate passer.
“Things are looking pretty good so far,” said Boge. “We lost a lot last year, but I think we are going to be faster and more athletic than last year as well. I think our speed on defense is way better this year as far as getting to the ball quickly.”
Sacred Heart graduated some key players including a four-year starter at middle linebacker, a starting wide receiver and a starting running back.
Sacred Heart does welcome back a veteran running back in Jackson Verleger.
“We have a lot of guys coming back this year and I see a lot of guys that want to win,” Verleger said. “We have a lot of guys who are getting a lot better and we’ve seen even throughout the summer a lot of improvements. We’ve got a lot to look forward to this year.”
The squad is also strong at wide receiver with the return of Joe McDonald and Luke Hacker. A newcomer that is primed to make an impact is sophomore wide receiver Nathan Siler who has outstanding hands.
The Irish are solid up front with the return of offensive linemen Caleb Strauch, Brendan Ervin and Jim McDonald.
“I’m excited about the season,” McDonald said. “Most of us are seniors and probably all agree with me that we have one more season and we want to make the best of it. Our goal is, 8-man plays (the final) up at the Yooper Dome and of course that’s our goal to get up there.”
Several of the Irish will start on both sides of the line. The Sacred Heart defensive line is led by Ervin, Jim McDonald and Strauch. Joe McDonald and Verleger return at linebacker with Hacker returning in the secondary at cornerback.
“We’re excited,” said Sacred Heart coach Josh Wheaton. “We lost three real good football players to graduation. Probably the best three as a group that that might have ever been at Sacred Heart, but we feel like we might be as good or better as a team even without those three guys. We’re different. We are a lot faster. We swarm the football. We had guys that played the third level of our defense that are not playing on the second level and that just changes everything. Everything is going to come down to one thing and one thing only, and that is our offensive line, and if our offensive line rises to the occasion and plays the way they should play and the way we expect them to play, we are going to be really, really difficult to beat.”
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