By TYLER HENRY
Little Apple Post contributor
Coming into the season, the Wabaunsee Chargers and Sacred Heart Knights looked like two drastically different teams.
After an impressive 7-3 campaign, the Chargers looked like potential favorites to reload and make a deep run in 2022, while the Knights were coming off a winless season and a two-year stretch with just two total wins.
So far, Wabaunsee has been as advertised, with a lone misstep in week one the only blemish on their resume.
Sacred Heart meanwhile, has come out of the woodwork with a 3-2 start under first-year head coach Jeremy Hopkins, making this matchup much more interesting than it looked when the season began.
Even beyond their records, the Chargers will play the favorites at home this week, boasting the fifth-best scoring offense (36 ppg) and 10th-best scoring defense (16 ppg allowed) in Class 1A.
Much of that success has hinged upon a balanced attack that has kept Wabaunsee’s opponents guessing all season.
“Wabaunsee is balanced and I respect that,” Knights head coach Jeremy Hopkins said. “They have lots of different ways to attack us and our defense is aware of that. Wabaunsee’s quarterback and receivers are a really nice package and going into games against teams like this you know you’re going to have to be sharp.”
On the other side of that coin, Sacred Heart is getting every ounce of respect on the table from the Charger's side of things, and Wabaunsee won’t be taking the upstart lightly come kickoff.
“We have to be prepared for their speed and that absolutely starts with their quarterback,” Charger head coach Jess Rutledge said. “He’s lightning quick and tough to track down in the open field. He has good zip on his throws and his receivers adjust well to that. They also have two really good big backs and we’ll have to make sure we can bring them down.”
To pull off an upset win this week, the Knights will need to shore up their secondary after allowing nearly 160 yards through the air each week to start the season.
Sacred Heart will also need to neutralize the big play by remaining fundamentally sound in open space.
“If you’re an old coach like me you believe that everything comes down to blocking and tackling,” Hopkins said. “If you don’t tackle a team like Wabaunsee you’re going to be in trouble. We have to pressure the quarterback, stay in the running lanes and tackle well.”
On the flip side, the start will be imperative for the Chargers, who have come from behind in two of their four victories but would prefer to keep an early lead rather than chase down their opposition.
“Consistency right off the bat will be a big key for us,” Rutledge said. “We’ve had slow starts in almost every one of our games. We’re changing some things up to make our practices up-tempo right from the start and against an opponent like Sacred Heart that can score so efficiently we have to get the offense rolling early.”
Kickoff between the Knights and Chargers is set for 7 pm at Wabaunsee High School, for continuing coverage of both teams stay tuned to the Salina Post and Little Apple Post.