The Sacred Heart Knights secured a 4-4 regular season record and a spot in the 1A Football playoffs with a 7-6 road win over Republic County.

The victory puts the Knights in the playoffs for the first time since 2018. The Knights will now travel to Marion in the first round of the playoffs.

The return of Cameron Cleveland to the Knights lineup proved to be a significant factor, as a defensive leader, his play allowed the rest of the defense to again rise to the occasion and secure its second one-point victory of 2022.

When asked about if he expected his team to improve this quickly in his first season, Head Coach Jeremy Hopkins said he did. “That’s a trick question because I’ll always say yes because I believe hard work will put us where we want to go.”

The Knights have now won four games in a season also since 2018 and have an opportunity to earn their first five-win campaign since 2015 with a win over Marion next week.