It was the loudest cheer of what was a lopsided game.
The Helias Crusaders were kicking off after a score late in the first quarter gave them a 14-0 lead against the Kansas City Southeast Knights on Saturday at Adkins Stadium.
On the return, Isaiah Mayo of the Knights worked his way through the Crusaders past midfield and had just one Helias player left to beat on his way to the end zone.
That player? Freshman kicker Vito Calvaruso. All 5-foot-6, 115 pounds of him.
Mayo, a senior, cut back to try to get past Calvaruso. But Calvaruso, on the field because regular kicker Sam Heckart was not back from a soccer tournament, reached out to make an ankle tackle to bring down Mayo.
The Helias crowd rose to its feet and Calvaruso's teammates swarmed him on the sideline.
"I was going through some things with some players on the bench and I heard this roar," Helias head coach Tim Rulo said. "I was so happy for him. Plus it saved a touchdown."
Helias held Southeast out of the end zone on that drive. And on all of its others except one Saturday as the Crusaders rolled to a 56-6 victory.
"I thought we were good in all phases of the game," Rulo said. "The offense was great, the defense was great and the special forces were great."
It took all of 1:15 for Helias to get on the scoreboard.
The Knights fumbled on their second play and it was recovered by Caleb Albertson of the Crusaders at the Southeast 21. Caleb Davis picked up 18 yards on the first play, then took it into the end zone on the next snap. Calvarusso's PAT attempt went off the upright and it was 6-0.
Later in the quarter, Helias took over at the Southeast 40 after a punt. A 17-yard run by Logan Roling keyed the drive, capped by a 6-yard run by Jake Burnett. Curtis Campbell connected with Dalton Weaver for a 2-point conversion pass and it was 14-0.
"We talked all week about coming out fast and playing our brand of football right away," Rulo said.
Helias, which did not punt in the game, scored four touchdowns in the second quarter.
Davis took it over from four yards out with 8:17 on the clock.
Blake Veltrop scored on a 10-yard run with 6:38 remaining.
Jacob Storms went three yards for a score with 4:19 left.
Blake Savage ran five yards for a touchdown with 1:10 to go.
Calvarusso converted on all four of the PAT attempts and it was 42-0 at halftime.
"Vito did a great job," Rulo said. "I think he was a little nervous, but he was fine out there."
Helias had a chance to add another score in the waning seconds of the half, but took a knee to allow time to run out inside the Southeast 20.
The Crusaders finished the half with a 235-36 edge in total yards and a 14-2 bulge in first downs. Southeast ran the ball 15 times for a minus-1 yard in the opening two quarters.
Campbell came in to replace Chandler Luebbert at quarterback at the start of the third quarter. In his series with the starters, Campbell led the Crusaders on an eight-play, 55-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Burnett. Heckart, back from soccer, booted the first of his two PATs and it was 49-0.
Helias got its final score on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 9-yard run by Cole Czarnecki. The score was set up by a 76-yard interception return by Colden Imhoff.
The Crusaders had 12 different players carry the ball in the game, finishing with 302 yards on 41 carries.
"When our offense is rolling, an opponent should have trouble knowing who is going to carry the ball," Rulo said. "They shouldn't be able to key on any one player and I think Chandler is doing a good job of learning how to run the offense."
Davis led the way with 62 yards on 12 rushes.
"We got to see some things in the playbook," Rulo said. "Southeast runs some odd defenses, so it gave us a chance to see what we could do against various looks, what would work and what might not work."
Helias was just 2-of-5 passing for 33 yards.
"We know we need to do some work in our pass game," Rulo said.
Helias is back in action Saturday against Bishop Althoff (Ill.) at East St. Louis (Ill.) High School. Game time is 4 p.m.