By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
Slowly but surely, the Sacred Heart football program has righted the ship, snapping a streak of 11 straight losing seasons in 2025 with a strong 5-4 finish.
During that stretch, the Knights were led by six different coaches, but Sacred Heart has its man in third-year head coach Ryan Krajicek, who returns to the sideline to lead the surging program.
“Our culture continues to improve and I’m just one piece of the puzzle,” Krajicek said. “I’ve had the best staff a coach could ask for and we’ve lucked out with some great new coaches joining us this season. This is a special place here at Sacred Heart and we’re so blessed with the support we’ve received.”
Krajicek’s Knights got hot in the middle of the 2025 campaign, winning five straight games and narrowly dropping an overtime thriller in the district championship game before falling to Marion in the postseason.
Despite those lumps, there’s real cause for optimism in Salina for a team that continues to grow both in roster size and in the weight room.
“A few years ago we had a ragtag team of 17 guys and I was the fourth coach in four years,” Krajicek said. “Now, I think if we stay healthy and keep improving, every game on our schedule is a potential win for us.”
Sacred Heart will have to overcome another year of graduation and a handful of unexpected departures, but brings back a great deal of experience to slot in beside a promising freshman class.
Arguably the biggest of those losses comes in the form of star wideout and safety Noah Hines, who transfers to Salina South after leading the Knights with 80 receptions for 1,489 yards over the last two seasons.
Despite Hines’ absence, the Sacred Heart passing game should be as strong as ever, with Maddox Wells returning under center fresh off a year that saw him rack up over 1,800 all-purpose yards and score 19 touchdowns.
Wells gets one of his favorite co-stars back in the form of star running back Dom Matteucci, who should be primed for a breakout season after an injury-hampered 2025.
“Dom and Maddox are excellent and they’re so multi-faceted,” Krajicek said. “Those guys are so competitive and they have great chemistry and high football IQs. I can spit out a collection of words we haven’t run before and those guys will run it perfectly; that’s a rare thing to have and that trickles down to the younger guys.”
This year’s Knights also have their best offensive line in years, with real competition for several starting spots ahead of the season opener.
“This might be the first time I feel like we have some real bulls up front and we just need some more running backs,” he said. “Usually it’s the other way around.”
Out wide Kolin Wilson, Reed Douglas, Miles Wells, and Maddox Ontiveros are all strong candidates to vacuum up the targets vacated by Hines.
Defensively Chim Chimezie and Edward Gawith headline the newcomers in the trenches alongside returning starter Zach Hernandez.
Dom Matteucci, Maddox Wells, Luis Hernandez and Reed Douglas each reprise their role in the secondary behind a group of strong returners in Cruz Carrico, Gabriel Aguayo and Jonah Kaumans in the linebacking corps.
There are no pushovers on this schedule, with each week presenting a unique test for the Knights to overcome, but for a squad eager to prove themselves, this gauntlet could be just the catalyst Sacred Heart needs to announce their arrival on the scene.
“There’s really no off weeks on our schedule and we’ve got several opponents with double our enrollment,” Krajicek said. “I know our guys are up for the challenge. My biggest goal is to continue improving week to week.”
The Knights open the 2026 campaign on the road as they travel to Valley Heights on September 4th.
Sacred Heart 2026 Football Schedule
- 9/4 - at Valley Heights
- 9/11 - at Ellsworth
- 9/18 - vs. Lyons
- 9/25 - vs. Republic County
- 10/2 - at Smith Center
- 10/9 - vs. Hutch Trinity
- 10/16 - vs. Plainville
- 10/23 - at TMP