Helias football holds annual Media Day

Zach Woehr of Helias runs back a kickoff for a touchdown in the third quarter of last year's season opener against Hannibal at the Crusader Athletic Complex.
Zach Woehr of Helias runs back a kickoff for a touchdown in the third quarter of last year's season opener against Hannibal at the Crusader Athletic Complex.

The Helias Crusaders were getting settled in the stands for their team picture Saturday morning at the Crusader Athletic Complex.

There were just a handful of Crusaders still coming out of the locker room in their full uniforms. One of the last was senior Zach Woehr.

It's understandable, Woehr had the longest trip to get to the Complex. It totaled nearly 12 hours.

"It's crazy," Woehr said.

Woehr was a starting outfielder for the Jefferson City American Legion Post 5 Seniors baseball team that won the Missouri state title and qualified for Mid-South Regional in New Orleans. Post 5 had a record of 1-2 in the event and was eliminated from the tournament early Friday night.

"That was so much fun, I loved my team and it was a great group of guys," Woehr said.

Woehr said the team left New Orleans around 8 p.m. Friday and got back to Jefferson City at 7:20 a.m. Saturday. With Media Day activities scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m., he came straight to the Complex and back to football.

"I've been trying to keep the time I've spent with each sport as even as possible this summer," Woehr said.

Woehr has spent time learning a new position in football this summer. He was a running back in the flexbone, but with the shift to the spread this season, he's moved to wide receiver.

"I love wide receiver, it's fun," Woehr said.

After having spent the last few weeks making a deep run in the American Legion baseball postseason, he wants to do the same in football this fall.

"We really want to win a district championship." Woehr said.

III

Chris Hentges installed the spread offense in his first stint as head coach of the Crusaders. And now that he's back as head coach, so is the spread.

This group of seniors last ran the spread when they were in eighth grade.

"Our verbage is the same, our signals are the same, I think there is a bit of a recall for them," Hentges said. "We have a lot to teach and a lot to learn, but football is still football."

Hentges said the coaching staff has reviewed the game films from last season when the team ran the flexbone.

"There wasn't much we were going to gain from watching what the previous staff was doing, but it was a chance to see what they could do on the football field," he said.

"But the skill set required to run the spread is different from the flexbone and every kid out here has a chance to play because there's a clean slate. We evaluated every player on what we think they can do in our offensive and defensive schemes and we're still trying to get some answers to that."

Hentges, who said the offense and defense are about equal in the learning process under the new staff, said the coaches installed the last of the playbook during the final week of summer camp.

"It's tough during the process of putting everything in, but as soon as you start to look at individual opponents, deciding what you think they are going to run and what you think will work against the challenges you will face, you trim things down," Hentges said.

Helias will take part in a Jamboree next Friday at the Falcon Athletic Complex in Wardsville in a pod with Centralia and California. The event starts at 7 p.m., with Helias scheduled to face Centralia at 7:30 p.m. and California at 8 p.m.

The Crusaders will open the regular season Friday, Aug. 24, at Hannibal against the Pirates. Game time is 7 p.m.