Prep Football: Record-setting night for Helias' Storms, Stiles

Zach Stiles of Helias makes a fair catch on a punt during Saturday night's game against the DeSmet at Adkins Stadium. Stiles finished with a team-record four interceptions in the game.
Zach Stiles of Helias makes a fair catch on a punt during Saturday night's game against the DeSmet at Adkins Stadium. Stiles finished with a team-record four interceptions in the game.

It was easy to tell where the game balls were going Saturday night for the Helias Crusaders.

Jacob Storms cradled his. Zach Stiles snared his one-handed. That seems right.

Storms and Stiles eclipsed Helias single-game records in the 50-27 victory against the DeSmet Spartans at Adkins Stadium. Storms rushed for 315 yards on just 19 carries, while Stiles intercepted four Spartan passes.

"It was just a great night for both of those guys," Helias coach Tim Rulo said.

Leading up to Saturday night's game, Rulo said one of the team's goals was to get Storms to 1,000 yards rushing this season. But since Storms entered Saturday with a little more than 600 yards, Rulo thought it might take a couple of postseason games for him to reach that milestone.

Storms nearly did it Saturday. He now has 932 yards this season and said the record was a team effort.

"My offensive line was outstanding, they blocked lights-out," Storms said. "The same with the receivers and the fullbacks, they all did a great job of opening holes and blocking downfield so I could get some of the long runs."

Rulo paid tribute to the offensive line as well, which helped Helias pick up 516 yards rushing in the contest.

"Kudos to the offensive line and the way they played," he said. "They really set the tone for everything we did."

Storms said the best is yet to come for the Helias offense.

"We are getting more comfortable," he said. "The offensive line is getting better with the blocking scheme, the backs are running better, everything is going along great."

Storms broke the record of 306 yards, set by Chris Hentges in a 1983 game against Moberly. That was Helias' oldest individual single-game offensive record. Helias ran for 616 yards as a team in that game.

On the defensive side, Stiles was a thorn in DeSmet's side all night.

"We knew they liked to throw the football," Stiles said. "I just took advantage of my opportunities."

Stiles got his first interception on DeSmet's opening drive, giving the Helias the ball at its own 8.

His second interception came on the second-to-last play of the first quarter. Stiles returned that one 73 yards for a touchdown to give Helias a 14-0 lead.

"That one was probably my best one," he said. "I think that one really helped get the momentum going our way."

The other two came in the fourth quarter, including one to snuff out a potential DeSmet scoring drive deep in Helias territory.

"That is phenomenal effort by Zach," Rulo said.

Stiles broke the single-game record of three interceptions set by Chris Wilson against Marshall in 1998. Just like Saturday, Helias was celebrating Senior Night in that game.

Stiles now has six interceptions on the season. The Helias season record is seven, set by Gabe Wilson in 1996.

The win snapped a frustrating string for the Crusaders. Coupled with last Saturday's victory against Kirksville, the two straight is the first winning streak for Helias (5-4) this season.

"It's been up and down this season, that's for sure, but it feels really good to get two in a row," Storms said.

Helias is back in action at 4 p.m. Saturday, opening Class 4 District 7 play against Warrensburg. The Crusaders are the No. 2 seed behind the Hannibal Pirates (7-2).

"It's great to finally have a winning streak," Stiles said. "We still need to win a couple of games to get there, but I think we all want to get to the district title game and get another chance to play Hannibal."

Hannibal edged Helias 19-14 to open the season.