Jeff Sanders Weekly Journal

Hoosier verbal commit Jeff Sanders talks about Sacred Heart Griffin's state tournament opener against a conference rival.

“Our toughest opponent is ourselves."
Coach Leonard

Dear Hoosier Nation,
We could not escape the above quote last Saturday afternoon during our first-round playoff match-up against conference rival Chatham Glenwood. We plagued our own efforts with turnovers, miscommunications, and allowing big plays.

Despite all of that, we came out victorious on our home field, 28-21.

Besides being one step closer to our final goal of a state championship for Coach Leonard, I scored my second touchdown of the year. As a joke, Coach Killaday created a friendly competition between Matty C and me for touchdowns. I tied the race at two for the season with a seven-yard score last Saturday.

I owe everyone in the Hoosier Nation who reads my journal an apology about not sending it in before game time yesterday. I am usually not one to make excuses, but I had a very busy week at school. I was involved in my school's strategic planning committee meeting. For the meeting, I got to leave school early Wednesday afternoon. I was one of only six students from the school to serve on the committee, so I made sure to try to represent the interests of the students.

This week’s practice might have been our best yet. I think Coach decided that we were going to have short, high intensity practices because our average finish time was 5:30. Normally, we get out at 6:15 or even later than that! But who can argue with the results since we beat the Potters from Morton by a score of 55-7. Keenan, the human kick-off return, returned the opening kick-off for a touchdown. After that the pressure was off and it felt like we couldn’t do anything wrong! The defense had a “statement game,” showing that they can defend the run, a supposed weakness earlier in the year. They also had at least three interceptions.

The offense was stalled on our first drive, but that was about it! Bobby, our quarterback, broke the school and conference passing records in the game. Due to our lead, the freshman and sophomore players finished off the game in the second half, stopping the Potter's first teams. Off to the quarter-finals to face Kankakee’s Bishop McNamara.

Wish me luck!

GO HOOSIERS!

Jeff Sanders