COLUMBIA, Mo. - The game was in the hands of the Helias defense.
Up by four points with less than two minutes to go Friday night, Helias punted the ball to Father Tolton.
Tolton, which had scored twice already in the fourth quarter, got one first down to keep things interesting. But the Blazers could not convert anything more as the Crusaders held on for a 24-20 victory.
"I knew we could do it," Helias coach Tim Rulo said. "I trusted our defense and it worked out. I felt good that we could handle it."
A 51-yard pass from Robert Hunter to Nick Beckett with 4:34 remaining pulled Tolton to within four at 24-20. But with that much time left, Helias could have all but run out the clock by getting two first downs on its next series.
It got one. But on fourth-and-three near midfield, Rulo decided to punt the ball away. Carson Stieferman's boot went out of bounds at the Tolton 21.
Tolton got a first down on a fourth-and-1 play to get the ball out to its own 35. But an incompletion, a one-yard loss, and two more incompletions gave the ball back to Helias.
The Crusaders then took two knees to run out the clock.
Helias never trailed in the game. The Crusaders got on the board first in a 5-yard touchdown run by Blake Veltrop with :18 left in the first quarter.
Tolton tied it at 7 midway through the second quarter on a 13-yard pass from Hunter to Jack Washer.
The Crusaders took a 10-7 advantage into intermission when Vito Calvaruso booted a 26-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.
It wasn't a productive first half for either offense. Helias finished with 107 rushing yards while going 0-of-4 passing, while Tolton had 113 total yards (79 through the air).
Helias stretched its lead to 17-7 on its first drive of the third quarter, starting deep in Tolton territory after a good punt return and a facemask penalty.
The Crusaders took advantage when Daniel Rhea connected with Nathan Bax for a 14-yard touchdown. Calvaruso's second PAT made it 17-7 with 8:27 to go in the third quarter.
Tolton cut it to 17-14 with 9:51 remaining in the game on an 18-yard pass from Hunter to CJ Campbell.
Helias got that score back on its next drive as Rhea scored from a yard out and it was 24-14.
"We executed a little bit better in the second half," Rulo said. "We made more plays, got more things down."
Tolton missed the PAT after Beckett's touchdown.
Ten different Crusaders recorded at least one rush Friday night. Blake Savage and Rhea both ran for 54 yards to lead the Crusaders, who totaled 242 yards on the ground. Bax's touchdown reception was the only completion in five pass attempts.
Tolton (2-4) was 25-of-50 passing for 279 yards. The Blazers ran 15 times for 45 yards.
Helias (3-3) is back in action next Saturday against Rock Bridge (5-1) for Homecoming. The game will start at 7 p.m. at Ray Hentges Stadium. Rock Bridge edged Jefferson City 32-21 on Friday night in Columbia.