Both the Helias Crusaders and the Bishop Althoff Crusaders entered the season with inexperienced teams.
But the experience Helias picked up through the first two weeks could prove pivotal in Saturday night's contest at Lindenwood University-Belleville in Belleville, Ill. Helias (2-0) has two games under its belt, while Althoff (1-0) has just one.
Every little bit counts.
"With both teams having some inexperience, I think the fact we have one more game of experience, one more week of going through practice, one more week of going through preparations, that could be to our advantage," Helias coach Phil Pitts said.
Helias got off to a slow start in its opener against Nixa before posting a 27-2 victory. A better start was one of the goals heading into last week's game against Hannibal and Helias achieved that, jumping out to a 42-0 lead at the half.
"Our team knew Hannibal was a key opponent for us and we were ready right from the start," Pitts said.
Helias is wary of Athloff attempting to do the same thing in its second game. Althoff's opener against Collinsville, Ill., was scoreless through the first half before Althoff broke out with 34 second-half points in a 34-14 victory.
"We know they want a better start to the game and we have to be ready for it," Pitts said.
It was the first game for Althoff junior quarterback Jordan Augustine.
"He got his feet wet and did a good job once he got into some rhythm," Pitts said.
Augustine finished 10-of-18 through the air for 93 yards and a touchdown. He also ran 13 times for 61 yards and a score.
Althoff runs out of a spread offense. And likes to run out of it.
"There are teams that spread you out just to run the football," Pitts said. "There's a misconception that spread teams are there just to throw the ball first as a pass offense."
Althoff ran for more than 300 yards in the victory, led by 154 yards in 11 carries from Malik Easley and 94 in 11 attempts by Jaylon Bester.
"They have two very good running backs and a dangerous quarterback," Pitts said. "We need to make sure we stay true to our assignments, win the 1-on-1 battles and make tackles."
Defensively, Althoff operates out of a 3-4 formation.
"They want to hit you, they want to establish the line of scrimmage," Pitts said. "We need to make sure we match how physical they are."
Pitts said Althoff has athletes all over the field.
"They try to get you into 1-on-1 matchups on both offense and defense and win those matchups," Pitts said. "It's going to be interesting to see our players go against somebody like that."
This is the first time Helias and Althoff have met on the football field. Preparing for a first-time opponent can be a challenge.
"The goal for this week is intense focus to practice, to film, to scouting report," Pitts said. "But that's good for us to go through this process to get us ready for other games later in the season."
It is a somewhat similar process to what a team would go through in the postseason.
"Our kids are used to it, we're accustomed to getting ready for big games each week," Pitts said. "There is no game that we feel is too big for our kids to prepare for, to study for."
Helias is ranked No. 2 in Class 4, while Althoff is No. 4 in Class 4A.
"We believe in the theory that we're trying to play the best opponent we can each and every week," Pitts said.
Helias is working with a rotation of three running backs this season and the trio of Malik Davis, Jacob Storms and Clayton Winter combined to rush for more than 200 yards and three scores against Hannibal.
It was Winter's debut after he missed the Nixa game with an injury.
"He's still in a limited role, but he does a lot of good things for us at not only running back but at linebacker," Pitts said.
The 7:30 p.m. contest Saturday is Helias' first road game of the season.
III
Don't think the film session after the big win against Hannibal was a breeze for the team. "We were really picky showing our mistakes," Pitts said. "Sometimes when you don't play so well, you point out a lot of the good things. We went back and showed where we can still improve, no matter what the score was." ... Helias won't have a player miss the game due to injury. ... The game came about with the decision in Missouri to move the first game of the schedule up a week. That meant Helias lost its game against Quincy (lll.) Notre Dame and Althoff lost a game against a Missouri opponent. "We both had to make adjustments and I think it's going to be a nice game for both teams and both communities," Pitts said.
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