Helias advances to district title game with win against Warrenton

Crusaders running back Blake Veltrop of Helias for a touchdown in Helias' district game against Warrenton at Adkins Stadium on Friday
Crusaders running back Blake Veltrop of Helias for a touchdown in Helias' district game against Warrenton at Adkins Stadium on Friday

The Helias Crusader offense is hitting its stride.

The Crusaders finished with more than 580 total yards Friday night and posted a season-high in points as Helias defeated the Warrenton Warriors 63-28 in a Class 4 District 7 semifinal contest at Adkins Stadium.

"Our offense is really playing well right now," Helias coach Tim Rulo said. "The best part is we get to keep playing."

With the win, second-seeded Helias (7-4) will head to top-seeded Hannibal (9-2) next Friday in the district title game. Hannibal advanced with a 49-14 win Friday night against Moberly.

The Pirates edged the Crusaders 19-14 in the season opener at Hannibal.

It took just two offensive plays for the Crusaders to break onto the scoreboard Friday night.

After forcing a Warrior punt on the first series of the game, Helias took over at Warrenton 31. Chandler Luebbert picked up 18 yards on the first play, then Blake Veltrop took it the final 13 for the touchdown. Sam Heckart booted the first of his nine PATs and it was 7-0 just 1:22 into the game.

Warrenton answered two plays later when Cameron Richardson hauled in a screen pass from Andrew Smith and sprinted 74 yards for the score. Zac Blackwood booted the PAT and it was tied at 7 with 9:52 left in the first quarter.

Helias then went 80 yards in eight plays to take the lead for good. The score came on a 33-yard run by Kaleb Davis and it was 14-7.

Later in the quarter, Helias forced Warrenton to punt from deep in its own territory. Mason Schaefer blocked the punt and Jonas Miller scooped up the ball and returned it 2 yards for the touchdown and a 21-7 Helias advantage.

The Crusaders stretched their lead to 28-7 on the first play of the second quarter when Davis sprinted 40 yards for his second touchdown of the game. A 67-yard pass from Luebbert to Dalton Weaver with 4:01 left in the half pushed Helias' advantage to 35-7.

A 74-yard run by Richardson with 3:42 left in the first half pulled Warrenton to within 35-14. Then with :16.8 left in the half, Smith tossed a 33-yard scoring pass to Andrew Smith and the Warriors trailed the Crusaders 35-21 at the break.

Helias put the game away with three unanswered touchdowns in the third quarter. Veltrop scored on a 31-yard run, Davis got his third TD of the night on an 18-yard run, and Curtis Campbell connected with Nathan Bax for a 24-yard score as the Crusaders took a 56-21 lead into the final quarter.

Jacob Storms made it 63-21 early in the fourth quarter on a 34-yard touchdown run for the Crusaders.

"Our guys played really, really well," Rulo said. "We just need to keep grinding, keep getting better."

Warrenton got the final touchdown of the game on a 5-yard run by Brendan Smith with 2:52 to play.

Warrenton (6-5), the No. 3 seed in the district, finished with 422 total yards. Smith was 15-of-24 passing for 227 yards, while Richardson picked up 122 yards on 16 carries.

Helias racked up 581 total yards Friday night. Davis finished with 116 yards to go along with his three touchdowns on just seven carries while Storms had 113 yards on 10 attempts. As a team, Helias had 430 yards on 46 carries while completing 4-of-7 passes for another 151 yards.

Game time will be 7 p.m. Friday.