ADAM COULTER
Salina Post Contributor
The Sacred Heart Knights played their first true road game of the season Friday night against the Valley Heights Mustangs and, after falling behind early in the game, things got interesting.
The Knights began the game on offense and drove down the field before ultimately turning the ball over on downs. On Valley Heights' first offensive possession, they had a sustained drive that burned the remaining first quarter clock.
To start the second quarter, Valley Heights' Jayden Dewalt scored on a 19-yard touchdown run to make the score 6-0. The 2-point conversation was no good.
At the 7:07 mark before halftime, the Mustangs struck again on a 47-yard scoring play from Mack Shanks to Royce Ekstrum. Once again however, the PAT was unsuccessful.
The Knights answered with their first points just before the intermission with 17.8 seconds remaining. A 5-yard pass from Maddox Wells to Dom Matteucci cut the lead in half at 12-6 and a successful 2-point conversation catch by Carson Lehmann trimmed the Mustangs advantage to four points.
To start the third quarter, at.the 10:39 mark, Valley Heights scored on a 50-yard touchdown run by Shanks to make the score 18-8. The 2-point conversation was unsuccessful once again.
The Knights responded once again with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Wells to Lehmann to make the score 18-14 with 1:30 left. A successful 2-point conversation by Matteucci made it an 18-16 game.
Early in the fourth quarter, another Ekstrum touchdown put Valley Heights up by 8, but another missed PAT kept it a one-possession game.
Unfortunately for the Knights, an interception near midfield with 6:55 remaining coupled with a Logan Gray 45-yard touchdown run and successful 2-point of conversation made the final score 32-16.
Sacred Heart will be on the road next Friday at Sedgwick. Kickoff is set for 7pm. Every Sacred Heart game throughout the season can be seen and heard with live streaming audio and video at salinapost.com.
The full broadcast of tonight's game can be found below.