Knights claim national title

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla — The playoffs are in full swing for some West Tennessee football teams but for the Sacred Heart of Jesus Knights, they captured their first state title in football last week and had their sights set on becoming a national champion.

The catch is, they play 8-man football, not the usual eleven.

Knights head coach, Michael Ashlock said,  “I always use the word space, and that’s the biggest difference, you take six guys off the field and most of those are lineman.”

The Knights play an up-tempo style of football with all the open space and their athletes can compete with the best of them in West Tennessee, said Coach Ashlock.

“Speed and quickness is more important than power,” Micahel Ashlock said.

Some people believe this game is completely different than eleven man football, but the Knights don’t think so.

“It’s almost the same thing as playing eleven man, less people on the field, more space,” said wide receiver Sidney Bryant.

“Always more points in a game,” said quarterback Evan Ashlock.

The team has been with one another for six years now, entering the season they knew they could do something special.

“We had big expectations for the year,” said Evan Ashlock.

“I’ve been with these guys since middle school so we kind of worked our way to the championship, we finally got what we deserved,” said Bryant.

The team after winning their state title in Tennessee took their talents Panama City Beach, FL where they were able to defeat Huntsville Alabama, 60-58 in the championship game as seconds expired before the game winning touchdown.

Coach Michael Ashlock said, “winning the national title is like icing on the cake.”