COLUMBIA, Mo. - Three yards, five seconds, needing a score. Any score.
But ...
"The outcome of the game did not come down to that play, there were a lot of things we could have done better," Helias coach Tim Rulo said after the Crusaders dropped a 28-27 decision Friday night to the Battle Spartans.
Trailing by one point, Helias made a defensive stand to get the ball back with around four minutes remaining at its own 7. The Crusaders worked the ball down the field and after a pass interference penalty on the Spartans in the end zone on what likely would have been a touchdown reception, had a first-and-10 at the Battle 18 with 1:44 remaining.
"Scoring a touchdown is goal No. 1," Rulo said.
Two runs netted three yards and it was third-and-7 at the 15.
"We were milking the clock, we didn't want to give them any time," Rulo said.
On third down, Battle's defense made a stand, getting a 10-yard loss on a naked boot.
"Earlier in the game, we talked about running a boot play because they were coming heavy on that motion across," Rulo said. "This wasn't a play we just drew up in the dirt, it was something we had on our sheet and thought would be successful."
The ball was set for play with a little less than a minute remaining and the Crusaders opted to run down the clock to :35 before calling their last timeout and sending on the field goal unit for a 42-yard attempt.
Helias' No. 1 kicker Sam Heckart, who booted a school-record 47-yard field goal against Hickman, was with the Crusaders' soccer team Friday in the Capital City Invitational, so the duties were manned by T.J. Hagenhoff. He had hit three extra points earlier in the game and had converted a 29-yard field goal in the season-opener at Nixa.
But the Crusaders had no intention of kicking it.
"We wanted to make it look as legit as we could," Rulo said.
Curtis Campbell, the holder, took the snap and fired a pass downfield and Dalton Weaver of the Crusaders somehow came up with the ball among a mass of humanity around the 3.
"Great catch," Rulo said.
It took a few seconds to sort things out and get the ball set for play as the Helias offense came back out on the field. Rulo said there was no thought given to kicking a field goal or spiking the ball to stop the clock to get a chance for a field goal.
"No, there was not," Rulo said.
The snap came with about :05 left and the Crusaders decided to run an option play to the right side. But the Spartans were able to make the stop after the ball wasn't handled cleanly.
"It was a fine read, a good call," Rulo said.
The final margin was fitting as the Crusaders and Spartans went back and forth throughout Friday's game. The game was tied at 21 at the half as each time Helias scored, Battle came back with a touchdown of its own on the ensuing possession.
Battle (5-0) took its first lead of the night on its first possession of the third quarter. Aided by a pair of questionable personal foul calls on consecutive plays, the second of which was followed by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Helias bench, the Spartans went 77 yards in 13 plays to take a 28-21 lead.
A big play on special teams keyed Helias' next score as Dylan Gaines blocked a Battle punt early in the fourth quarter to give the Crusaders the ball at the Spartan 29.
On the ensuing play, Helias quarterback Alex Faddoul hit Alex Werner for a 29-yard score. The snap was mishandled on the extra-point attempt and the 2-point run failed to make it 28-27 with 9:02 left to play.
Helias (1-4) will host St. James Academy (3-0) of Lenexa, Kan., for Homecoming on Saturday. Game time is 7 p.m.
"I know I sound like a broken record, but this team is making phenomenal progress," Rulo said. "It hurts to lose, you can always question a play here or there, but our guys played hard to the end. They played great."