The Helias Crusaders and Liberty: Wentzville Eagles combined for 59 points and 617 total yards in the first half Friday night.
The Crusaders kept moving the ball and scoring in the second half, the Eagles didn't.
Blake Veltrop ran for 132 yards and four touchdowns for the Crusaders as they rolled to a 66-42 victory against the Eagles in the opening round of Class 4 District 7 play at Ray Hentges Stadium.
"It was great to see Blake have a big game tonight," Rulo said.
Helias scored on five of its seven first-half possessions in the game.
Veltrop got the Crusaders on the board on their first play from scrimmage. After a short Eagles' punt, Helias took over at the Liberty 34. The Eagles jumped offside for five yards before Veltrop ran 29 yards for a score. Vito Calvaruso booted the first of his eight extra points and it was 7-0.
Calvaruso capped Helias' next possession with a 37-yard field goal and the Crusaders led 10-0.
Liberty got on the board two plays later when Wesley Hines ran 79 yards for a touchdown. The PAT was good and it was 10-7 with 5:29 left in the first quarter.
The two teams traded lost fumbles on their next possessions. Helias then marched 52 yards on eight plays to score, which came on a 2-yard run by Veltrop on the first play of the second quarter to make it 17-7.
Hines had another quick answer for Liberty, going 80 yards on the next play from scrimmage to make it 17-14.
Helias went 80 yards on six plays to score on its next possession. A 48-yard run by Connor McKenna keyed the drive, capped by a 21-yard McKenna run that increased Helias' lead to 24-14.
Things were looking good for the Crusaders after Daniel Rhea ran 17 yards for a touchdown with 1:45 left to go before halftime to make it 31-14.
But the Eagles scored twice in the final minute of the half - a 47-yard run by Tito Plaza and a 47-yard screen pass from Donavan Arrington to Plaza as time expired - to make it 31-28 at the break.
"If you take away the last play of the first half, I think the game would have had a lot different look," Rulo said.
Liberty had 316 yards at intermission, while Helias had 301.
The Crusaders changed a few things defensively at the half. They worked as the Eagles didn't score again until there were less than three minutes remaining in the game.
"I was happy with the way our guys took to the adjustments we made at halftime," Rulo said.
On the other side, the Crusaders scored on their first four second-half possessions to pull away.
An 8-yard run by Blake Savage just 90 seconds in to the third quarter gave Helias a 38-28 lead
A 4-yard run by Rhea with 6:54 left in the third quarter made it 45-28.
A 12-yard run by Veltrop gave Helias a 52-28 advantage with 4:26 to go in the third quarter.
A 13-yard Veltrop run on the first play of the fourth quarter increased Helias' lead to 59-28.
Jacob Weaver got Helias' final touchdown on a 7-yard run with 8:10 to go in the game. Ryan Watson's PAT made it 66-28.
Liberty got a 16-yard touchdown run by Arrington with 2:26 left and a 2-yard run by Hines with :52.1 remaining to make the final 66-42.
Hines paced the Liberty (4-6) rushing attack with 244 yards on 18 carries. The Eagles ran for 354 yards in the game.
Savage added 102 yards rushing as Helias finished with 476 yards on the ground.
With the win, the fourth-seeded Crusaders (5-5) advance to next Friday night's district semifinal at top-seeded Warrenton (9-1). The Warriors jumped out to a 41-0 lead Friday night in a 41-15 victory against the Marshall Owls.
"Warrenton is going to be a very good opponent, we're going to need to be ready to go," Rulo said.
Game time will be 7 p.m.