It was ugly, it was gutsy, it was exciting to the next to last snap.
It also was a big win.
The Helias Crusaders totaled 10 points on their first two drives Saturday afternoon and made them stand up for a 10-7 victory against the Rock Bridge Bruins at Adkins Stadium.
"These are the games you have to win," Helias coach Tim Rulo said. "It wasn't the prettiest game by any means, but it was a win. It shows the grit this team has.
"We were tenacious. We kept battling and that was great to see."
The Crusaders figured it was going to be a four-quarter contest against the Bruins.
"We knew it was going to be a close game, we knew we would have to play hard to the end," Helias senior linebacker Logan Distler said.
The Crusaders forced a three-and-out on the Bruins' first series and after a short punt, took over at the Rock Bridge 45.
Helias needed eight plays to get to the end zone. A pass interference penalty, followed by a 14-yard run by Alex Faddoul, keyed the short drive, capped by a 2-yard plunge by Faddoul. Sam Heckart's PAT made it 7-0. Faddoul played all but the final series Saturday after missing the week of practice with an ankle injury.
But the drive also proved costly as Jake Burnett went down with a left leg injury on the first play after picking up three yards on a rush. Burnett, who is Helias' leading tackler from his linebacker spot, did not return.
That was the first of several Crusader injuries Saturday.
"We're a team of brothers, the next guy has to come in and do the job and that's what we did," Distler said.
After getting another three-and-out, Helias took over at is own 25. Helias got down to the Rock Bridge 14 before the drive stalled and Heckart came on to boot a 31-yard field goal with :00.3 remaining in the first quarter and it was 10-0.
"I believe that this team, when all 11 guys are doing their jobs, can do some great things and I think you saw that on those two drives," Rulo said. "Rock Bridge has some great athletes out there, but we did a good job against them on those two drives."
Rock Bridge scored its only points in the final minute of the first half.
After a punt, the Bruins were at their own 18 with 1:36 on the clock. Rock Bridge was without starting quarterback Karson Ringdahl, who was on crutches after throwing for more than 1,000 yards in the first six games.
So running back Nick Collins was going to be pivotal to the Bruin attack Saturday.
"We wanted to try and keep him contained," Distler said. "We knew he was a great runner and once he got into space, he was going to be tough to stop."
Even with so little time left in the half, the Bruins kept handing the ball to Collins, which was no surprise to the Crusaders.
"He's one of those guys that you never know when he's going to break one," Rulo said.
The senior picked up 10 yards on three carries before breaking away down the sideline for a 62-yard touchdown with :29.4 left in the half. The PAT made it 10-7 at intermission.
Collins got half of his 124 rushing yards Saturday on that carry.
"We did a great job of tackling," Rulo said.
The second half was a case of gridlock as the defenses stepped to the forefront.
Helias managed a minus-one yard on its first three possessions, while Rock Bridge had 14 yards.
"I would love to see us do more, but Rock Bridge played so well on defense," Rulo said. "They're physical and they get after you. I don't know if we will see a collection of athletes the rest of the year that we saw today."
The Crusaders got things going again early in the fourth quarter. Faddoul completed passes to Adam Bax (17 yards) and Nolan Sachse (13 yards) on consecutive plays as Helias drove inside the Rock Bridge 10. But a missed field goal gave the ball back to the Bruins.
Rock Bridge punted the ball back to Helias on the next series. The Crusaders, who picked up a big first down on a pass interference penalty on a ball the Bruins intercepted, got the ball to midfield before having to punt.
It wasn't a pretty kick, but when the ball hit the field near the 35, it was ruled to have bounced off a Rock Bridge player and Bax recovered it for Helias.
"I give our guys credit for being intelligent to jump on the football," Rulo said.
It was Rock Bridge's second turnover. Dalton Weaver had a second-quarter interception for the Crusaders.
From there, the Crusaders were able to run out the clock for the victory.
"This shows what we can do," Distler said. "The plan was to start the run in this game and we got this one."
Helias (2-5) will play Friday at Rockhurst. The game is slated for a 7:30 p.m. start. Rock Bridge (2-5) will travel to Cincinnati next Saturday to take on Winton Woods.