By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
With week one of the 2023 high school football season already in the books, the NCAA is looking like one of the more stacked leagues across the state of Kansas and will see another intriguing clash this Friday as Sacred Heart travels to Minneapolis.
The Knights got off to an excellent start at Wichita Trinity a week ago, but lost several key starters which resulted in a late comeback, and a heartbreaking 36-26 defeat.
“That was a hard loss,” Knights head coach Norm Jennings said. “We were up until the end but we had enough injuries pile up that we just couldn’t sustain that pace. Five guys went out at the same specialty group and that allowed them to get away from us in the fourth quarter.”
On the other side of this matchup, Minneapolis will be riding high after handling their business against a Republic County squad still in the process of rebuilding, as the Lions walloped the Buffs 59-0.
“Our level of intensity continues to get better and our underclassmen are understanding their role,” Lions head coach Tom Flax said. “It’s hard to tell a lot of things from one week but I’ve got a lot of confidence in this team and I was impressed with what I saw on Friday.”
With the statuses of five starters very much up in the air for this week two matchup, an already thin 1A Sacred Heart squad will have to dig deep, but did establish some confidence in their depth throughout that week one matchup.
“We had tons of positive takeaways from that game,” Jennings said. “Our boys worked so hard on this new offense all summer long and we saw so many players step up in a big way on Friday night. Seeing so many kids prove their value and show us our depth is a huge positive as we build this program.”
Despite the injuries, this is a Sacred Heart team that Minneapolis knows better than to take lightly, and the Lions will be preparing for a real battle this Friday night.
“Sacred Heart always plays with confidence and they have skilled players,” Flax said. “When I look at them I know they’re going to be well coached and they’ll understand what the task at hand is. They’re going to do their best to take advantage of what they perceive we struggle with and they have a long, storied tradition of winning behind them.”
To bounce back and get the season back on track, the Knights will need to employ all the speed at their disposal to keep the Lions' defense back on their heels for four quarters.
“We need to see fast and nasty against fast and nasty,” Jennings said. “Our offense is designed to be fast-paced and to take advantage of the speed of the defense in the open field. I think this game is going to be incredibly fun for the fans to watch because both teams will be going full throttle.”
Meanwhile, for the Lions to take another step toward proving themselves to be the real deal, Minneapolis will need to value each possession, and ensure that a majority of the chunk plays in this game belong to them.
“We need to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” Flax said. “We’ve got to limit big plays as a defense and create big plays as an offense. Winning the turnover battle will also be a big key for us.”
Kickoff between the Knights and Lions is set for 7:00 in Minneapolis, and the game can be streamed with live audio and video on the Salina Post.