2020 High School Football Tour

Our High School Football Preview Tour continues to roll on.

The Rocking M Media sports staff is previewing the 2020 season, venturing to different parts of central Kansas.

The latest stop was in central Salina, home to the Sacred Heart Knights.

A familiar face is taking over the reins of Sacred Heart football. Shane Richards, who has 10 years of assistant coaching experience, is the new head football coach. Richards replaces Garrett Galanski, who was relieved of his duties after three seasons.

Richards served eight years at Sacred Heart Middle School as an assistant. He briefly made an appearance at the high school level being an assistant for two seasons. Away from football, Richards serves as a fire engineer, and is a certified medical technician for the Salina Fire Department.

Coach Richards will look to move the football program in the right direction following a winless 2019 campaign. The injury-plagued Knights were outscored by opponents 439 to 71.

A new face takes over at quarterback in senior Jacob Gormley. The 6’4″ signal caller didn’t go out for football the last couple years. Instead, Gormley starred on the boys basketball team. Following a little encouragement from teammate Mason Richards, Gormley decided to join the squad.

Speaking of Richards, the 6’2″ fullback/defensive end gets to learn under his father in his last season. Richards recorded 16 tackles and a sack in 2019.

Leading rusher Jared McCartney returns for the Knights. The senior ran for 271 yards and was second on the team with 43 tackles as a linebacker.

Senior Gus Campa leads the group of linemen. Campa weighs in at 245 pounds and appears to be stronger heading into 2020. At defensive tackle, Campa logged 33 tackles and five tackles for loss. Wide receiver/cornerback Kobe Douglas and receiver/safety Jarrett McMillian round out the senior group.

Youth summarizes the rest of the 2020 roster. Sophomore Adrian Panuco is back after an exciting debut season of 28 tackles at linebacker. Eight freshmen will receive a ton of reps, led by quarterback/safety Evan Bogart. Cooper Ivey, Andy Marshall, and Dayne Goss will be featured in the trenches.

Week one is still up in the air for the Knights. Their season-opening opponent, Ellsworth, had to cancel following a positive COVID-19 test that forced the team to be quarantined. Sacred Heart is still actively searching for a replacement.

The Knights will be young for 2020, but this type of season can build the foundation for a new future at Sacred Heart.

2020 schedule for Sacred Heart Knights (all kickoff times slated for 7 pm w/games on ksal.com):

Sept. 4 – TBA
Sept. 11 – Ell-Saline*
Sept. 18 – Inman*
Sept. 25 – at Smith Center*
Oct. 2 – at Ellinwood*
Oct. 9 – Independent
Oct. 16 – Oakley*
Oct. 23 – at Plainville*
Oct. 30 – PLAYOFFS
*1A District 3 Game