BY Adam Coulter
Salina Post Contributor
Despite an inspired effort and a tough, physical game, the Sacred Heart Knights ended their season Thursday night with a 35-7 loss against the Sedgwick Cardinals.
Wednesday's rain throughout much of the state forced a change of venue as the Class 1A playoff game was contested at Valley Center.
Sacred Heart won the opening coin toss and deferred possession until the start of the second half. Sedgwick began the game with the ball and wasted no time in scoring on its initial drive.
The Cardinals marched down the field and led 7-0 at the 7:51 mark of the opening quarter. Offensively, following a long run from Evan Bogart, the Knights were gifted 30 additional yards in field position from two consecutive unsportsmanlike penalties called against the Cardinal bench.
That moved the ball all the way into the red zone, but Sacred Heart couldn't convert the short field into points and turned the ball over on downs. Sedgwick tacked on an additional score at the 1:10 mark of the first quarter and led 14-0.
The Knights struggled to contain the Cardinals' offense both on the ground and through the air as second-quarter touchdowns with 8:57, 6:05, and 0:16 respectively remaining until halftime extended the deficit to 35-0.
Although down by five scores, Sacred Heart came out in the second half playing inspired football.
At the 5:24 mark of the third quarter, a Noah Hines 15-yard touchdown catch and Cam Yohe PAT put the Knights on the scoreboard with a 35-7 score. That turned out to be the lone scoring play by either team heading into the final quarter.
In the final minutes of regulation, a similar sequence as to what had happened early in the game repeated itself. A long run by the Knights, this time a Michael Matteucci 62-yard rush, was followed by two more unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against the Cardinals. This ultimately resulted in Sedgwick head coach Jeff Werner being ejected from the game.
Unfortunately, the Knights were again unable to take advantage of the excellent field position and turned the ball over on downs. Despite the 28-point loss and the Sedgwick starting offense playing the entire game, the Knights didn't surrender a single second-half point. Sacred Heart ends its season with a 2-7 record.