For the first time in nearly two calendar years, the Sacred Heart Knights won a varsity football game Friday night with a 17 point victory at Ellinwood to spoil the Eagles’ Homecoming.

Things did not start well for the Knights. Just seconds into the game Sacred Heart Senior Quarterback Jacob Gormley fumbled the football and Ellinwood would convert the turnover into points. Eagle Sophomore QB Tyler Stuhlsatz scored the first touchdown of the game and the first score of any kind for Ellinwood in 2020 with a 4 yard dash to the end zone at the 10:04 mark of the first quarter.

Following that touchdown, the Knight defense would pitch shutout ball for the remaining 46 minutes of the game. Meanwhile, Gormley would redeem himself big time. With 5:13 left in the opening stanza, Gormley got the first Knight touchdown of the season in an 11 man game when he reached pay dirt on a 3 yard run. The point after attempt failed and Ellinwood led 7-6 after a quarter of play.

Gormley would throw a pair of TD passes in quarter number two. The first one coming with 5:39 left until half when he found Freshman Michael Matteucci on a play that covered 19 yards. Gormley ran in the two point try and the Knights had their first lead of the game and the season, 14-7.

Another Freshman, Evan Bogart, was on the receiving end of a 20 yard touchdown pass from Gormley with just under a minute to go in the first half. The same combination hooked up for another two point conversion for Sacred Heart and the Knights led 22-7 at the half.

The only scoring of the second half occurred at the 7:09 mark of the third quarter when Ellinwood, trapped deep in their own territory, snapped the ball over the punter’s head. Eagle punter Junior Devan Komarek did manage to catch the ball, but in the process of doing so stepped out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

The win marked the first victory in the Shane Richards era as the Knights head coach.

Sacred Heart, now 1-4 on the season, will look for win #2 when they return home next Friday night to take on the Wichita Independent Panthers who got wiped out 63-8 last night by Conway Springs to fall to 1-4 in 2020.