The Warrenton Warriors don't get a lot of attention in Mid-Missouri.
But they definitely have the attention of the Helias Crusaders.
"People don't know much about them around here, but that's a good team," Crusaders coach Tim Rulo said as Helias (6-4) and Warrenton (6-4) get set to meet in a Class 4 District 7 semifinal tonight at Adkins Stadium. "They don't do anything fancy, but they do things well enough to win games."
Warrenton, a member of the Gateway Athletic Conference North Division, has won four of its last five games. The defense has sparked the winning run as the Warriors have allowed an average of 14 points in the second half of the season.
"It's the most aggressive defense we've seen," Rulo said. "They like to blitz one or two people every play."
Jacob Null, the Warrenton middle linebacker, leads with 81 tackles.
The Warriors have recorded 28 sacks this season. Chris Vogt has recorded eight of those sacks, while Devon Norman and Caleb Strauss getting five each.
"They've been playing at a really high level lately after maybe struggling at the start of the season," Ruo said.
Offensively, the Warriors average a little more than 30 points per contest out of a spread formation.
Warrenton quarterback Brenden Smith is a dual-threat for the Warriors, The 5-foot-8, 160-pound junior leads the team with 1,255 rushing yards (6.6 avg.) while going 61-of-101 for 802 yards through the air.
Smith has run for 12 touchdowns and thrown for nine more to go along with just three interceptions.
"He's a scrappy kid with a ton of heart," Rulo said. "He works to get as many yards as he can and he does a good job in the passing game.
"He's the heart of their team."
Cameron Richardson (5-10, 165 sr.), who has run for 1,148 yards, lead the Warriors with 15 touchdowns.
Brandon Molinari (5-11, 160) is Smith's favorite target through the air, totaling 312 yards and four touchdowns on 26 receptions. Richardson has 17 catches for 205 yards and two scores out of the backfield, while Strauss (6-8, 210 soph.) has 12 catches for 182 yards and three touchdowns.
"(Strauss) is going to be a handful on offense and defense," Rulo said.
Helias has seen the spread offense throughout the season.
"We feel comfortable against it," Rulo said. "But we need to make sure we're in the right alignment and doing our jobs."
Helias is looking for its difficult schedule to pay dividends tonight.
"When we play who we play, we're hoping to prepare ourselves for this time of the year," Rulo said.
Game time is 7 p.m.
The Helias-Warrenton winner will face the winner of the Hannibal-Moberly game next Friday in the district title game. With a win, Helias would either travel to Hannibal or host Moberly.
III
The Crusaders established three school records in last week's district opening win against Warrensburg.
Helias ran for 303 yards in the victory to push its total of 3,159 yards on the season. That broke the mark of 3,140 set in 1983.
"It's a full-team effort," Rulo said. "The linemen can confidence in that, the wide receivers can for their blocking, the quarterbacks, the running backs, everybody can be proud of that one."
Helias senior linebacker Jake Burnett finished with 33 total tackles in the game to break the mark of 30 set by Glen Verslues in a 1987 game against Kirksville.
"Jake did a great job of reading plays in the game," Rulo, who had the entire defensive staff go through the film to validate the record, said. "That record is a fruition of all of Jake's hard work. He put his time in during the off-season trying to perfect his craft."
Helias senior running back Jacob Storms finished the 10-game season with an average of 11.3 yards per carry. That bettered the mark of 10.98 held by Stuart Hentges in the 1997 season.
Storms has 1,013 yards on 90 carries this season.
Helias Catholic hosts Warrenton, 7 p.m. Friday
Updates on Twitter: @tjrackers
Podcast preview: Helias Crusaders Football Podcast [Warrenton preview, Oct. 28, 2016]