Friday Night Recap: Helias shows improvement against Hannibal

HANNIBAL, Mo. - After losing twice on the road to Hannibal last season, the Helias Crusaders had a chance to gain a measure of revenge in Friday night's season opener with the Pirates.

photo

ASSOCIATED PRESS

A teammate, rear, starts celebrating as Andre Greipel of Germany, left in white, as he sprints towards the finish line ahead Peter Sagan of Slovakia, center left in green and second place, Marcel Kittel of Germany, far left in white and third place and Mark Cavendish of Britain, second right and fourth place, to win the sixth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 176.5 kilometers (110.3 miles) with start in Aix-en-Provence and finish in Montpellier, southern France, Thursday July 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

The Crusaders played better, a lot better, than they did in last season's two meetings. But the scoreboard favored the Pirates for a third straight time.

"I'm tired of having a nasty taste in my mouth when we leave here," Helias coach Tim Rulo said after the Crusaders' 19-14 loss. "But we have to remember the good things and keep going,"

One of the good things was the game's opening drive. Helias fell into deep holes early in both games last year, but the Crusaders took the opening kickoff Friday and marched down the field.

Fourteen plays and 76 yards later, Chandler Luebbert took it over from a yard out and after Sam Heckart's PAT, Helias led 7-0.

All 14 plays were runs. Helias did attempt a pass on the series, but it was negated by a penalty.

"If it's working, keep going to it," Rulo said.

Hannibal answered with an 80-yard drive to tie it early in the second quarter. A key play on the 16-play march was a 38-yard completion on a third-and-18 play. The Pirates converted on five third-down plays on the drive, including an 8-yard touchdown run by quarterback Trevor Watson. Watson booted the PAT and it was tied at 7 less than two minutes into the second quarter.

A short punt gave Hannibal great field position on its next series, capped by a 27-yard touchdown run by Shamar Griffith to make it 13-7.

After an exchange of punts, Helias fumbled the ball back to the Pirates. Three plays later, Watson found Griffth out in the flat and the senior speedster went 74 yards for a score and a 19-7 Hannibal lead at the break.

Helias finished with just 48 yards of offense in the first half after the opening series.

"You can't afford to march 76 yards down the field on one drive and then struggle the rest of the half," Rulo said.

Helias made it 19-14 on its second possession of the second half.

Taking over near midfield after a Pirate fumble, the Crusaders needed seven plays to find the end zone. A 21-yard run on fourth down by Jake Burnett keyed the drive, capped by a 27-yard cutback sprint to the end zone by Jacob Storms with 2:41 left in the third quarter.

Helias had just one first down in its final three possessions. On their final possession with 1:21 left, the Crusaders came up a few inches short on a fourth-and-1 play.

"I thought we had it, but they didn't call it our way, so we just move on," Rulo said.

The Crusaders did a great job of containing Griffith in the run game, holding the all-stater to just 75 yards on the ground in 23 carries.

"You have to feel like it's going to turn out well when you do something like that," Rulo said. "I think our defense played great, especially in the second half.

"We came out and made plays, the problem is we didn't make enough of them. We hurt ourselves with penalties and a fumble."

Helias (0-1) will face African Centered College Preparatory Academy (1-0) next Saturday at Adkins Stadium. The Knights opened the season Saturday with a 36-0 win against Van Horn.

Game time is 4 p.m.

Earlier coverage of Friday's game:

Helias drops season opener at Hannibal

__

Follow @NTsports on Twitter for updates each week during area high school football games.