Prep Football: Helias heads back to Hannibal for district title

Dalton Weaver of Helias catches what turns into a 67-yard touchdown pass during last Friday night's game against Warrenton at Adkins Stadium.
Dalton Weaver of Helias catches what turns into a 67-yard touchdown pass during last Friday night's game against Warrenton at Adkins Stadium.

Back in mid-August, the Helias Crusaders dropped a 19-14 decision to the Hannibal Pirates.

Along with the disappointment of losing, the Crusaders left the season-opener with some questions directed squarely toward the future.

"Can we improve enough and get better each week enough if we do get back there, can we take care of business?" Helias coach Tim Rulo said.

And now with Helias-Hannibal Part II looming tonight for the Class 4 District 7 championship

"We feel like we've improved enough and gotten better each week, now it's a matter of going back up there and taking care of business," Rulo said.

Helias (7-4) enters the 7 p.m. road contest against Hannibal (9-2) riding a four-game winning streak.

"The guys have a little more swagger, a little more pep in their step," Rulo said. "The opportunity to practice and play in November is great."

With nearly three months having passed, there may not be much the Crusaders can take away from that first meeting with the Pirates.

"If you look at the game film, the biggest thing you notice is how much we've improved and we know Hannibal has improved as well," Rulo said.

And with this being the fourth meeting between the Crusaders and Pirates in the last 15 months, there shouldn't be a lot of surprises tonight.

"We've got enough film on them," Rulo said.

Hannibal running back Shamar Griffith stands out on that film. The senior, Hannibal's career leader in touchdowns, ran 17 times for 170 yards and four touchdowns in last Friday night's 49-14 district semifinal win against Moberly.

"He's so impressive," Rulo said. "He's a talented young man."

Helias is figuring on seeing a full dose of Griffith tonight.

"You're going to see him get 30-plus touches," Rulo said. "Hannibal is not going to lose a district title game because he didn't get all the touches he can.

"We're going to have to know where he is all the time."

In the first meeting, Helias held Griffith to just 75 rushing yards on 23 carries and one touchdown on the ground. But Griffith also had two catches for 112 yards, including a 74-yard catch and run late in the first half.

"What makes that challenging is no matter what the system, if you key on him too much, it opens up other things," Rulo said.

Hannibal quarterback Trevor Watson was 7-of-10 through the air for 138 yards in the first meeting. Six different Pirate receivers had receptions.

"They are comfortable with him throwing the ball," Rulo said.

The best way to keep Hannibal off the scoreboard is to keep the ball away from its offense.

In the first meeting, Helias received the opening kickoff and went 76 yards in 14 plays in a drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Chandler Luebbert. Hannibal came back and went 80 yards in 16 plays, with Watson scoring on an 8-yard run to tie it with 10:15 to go in the first half.

Helias was only able to get one first down the remainder of the half as Hannibal scored twice to take a 19-7 lead into intermission.

"We had penalties, turnovers, we couldn't get the points we needed," Rulo said.

Helias' other score came on a 27-yard run by Jacob Storms with 2:41 to go in the third quarter.

Defensively, the Pirates allowed 290 yards passing in last week's win against the Spartans. But Moberly finished with negative rushing yards.

While Helias features a run-oriented attack, the Crusaders have had success recently through the air.

In last week's 63-28 semifinal victory against Warrenton, Helias' quarterback duo of Luebbert and Curtis Campbell combined to throw for 151 yards and two touchdowns.

The two have totaled 813 passing yards for 10 touchdowns this season.

"Our ability to run the ball has opened up opportunities in the passing game," Rulo said.

Helias finished with 581 total yards in the victory, with Kaleb Davis (seven carries for 116 yards) and Storms (10-113) leading the ground game behind a strong effort from the offensive line.

"We need to focus on us (tonight)," Rulo said. "We have a gold standard here and we need to play at that level. If we do that, we will be happy with the outcome.

"We want to play our best football against Hannibal this week."

III

Notes: The Helias-Hannibal winner will face the winner of the District 8 title game between top-ranked Kearney (10-1) and fourth-ranked Platte County (8-3) in the quarterfinals next Saturday. With a win tonight, Helias would host Kearney or play at Platte County. Helias has won its last two district title meetings against Hannibal. The Pirates defeated the Crusaders in the district semifinals last season. Hannibal was No. 2 behind Kearney in the final Missouri Media Rankings for the regular season. This will be the fourth straight time the Crusaders and Pirates have played in Hannibal. The Pirates have won the first three meetings. Helias has won by an average score of 48-18.5 in its four-game victory streak.

CLASS 4 BRACKET

Helias Catholic at Hannibal

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