Friday Football: Helias struggles to stop wing-T of Monroe City

Austin Radmacher of Helias gets a grip on Monroe City's Zach Osborn during Friday night's game at Ray Hentges Stadium.
Austin Radmacher of Helias gets a grip on Monroe City's Zach Osborn during Friday night's game at Ray Hentges Stadium.

The Helias Crusaders worked all week to prepare for the wing-T offense of the Monroe City Panthers.

Turns out a week wasn't enough.

"It's a nasty offense that we just don't see," Helias coach Chris Hentges said Friday night after the Crusaders dropped a 34-28 decision to the Panthers at Ray Hentges Stadium. "We can't simulate it in practice, we tried and tried. We went two full days in pads this week trying to do it to get our guys ready.

"But they just have too many options, you take one thing away and they have another one to go to."

The wing-T is a run-based attack that starts the same on nearly every play before breaking off into different directions. The Panthers finished with 550 total yards Friday night and scored on its first four possessions behind an offensive line that dominated the line of scrimmage.

Monroe City, No. 7 in Class 2 in the latest Missouri Media Rankings, ran 31 times for 229 yards in the first half.

"They're good on the offensive front," Hentges said. "I tip my hat to them, they were tough up front."

Keenan Batsell did the majority of the work running the ball in the first two quarters. The 5-foot-10 junior ran 23 times for 182 yards and three touchdowns.

Monroe City won the toss and elected to receive the opening kick. Batsell went to work, picking up 15 yards on the first two plays before breaking away for a 55-yard touchdown on the fifth play of the drive.

The Crusaders got a heavy dose of Batsell on the Panthers' next possession. After a Helias punt, Monroe City took over at its own 15. Batsell carried it 10 times on a 12-play drive, including a 6-yard touchdown run. A 2-point conversion made it 14-0 in favor of Monroe City,

The Panthers went 64 yards on 12 plays to score on their third possession. Batsell got his third touchdown run, again from 6 yards, and it was 20-0 with 4:42 left before halftime.

Monroe City went to the air on his next drive, which finished with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Blake Hays to Kaelin Kendrick-O'Bryan. Batsell ran for the 2-point conversion to make it 28-0.

Helias got on the board, going 58 yards in three pass plays. The score came on a 2-yard toss from Jake Weaver to Griffin Buschjost that made it 28-7 at the half.

"I thought it was going to be a game where we had to score on every drive and we didn't," Hentges said.

The scoring drive accounted for more than half of Helias' total offense in the half.

"We tried to run the football and we had very little success," Hentges said. "We thought we could run it against them and we couldn't."

Down by 21 points, the halftime talk was focused on playing better in the final two quarters.

"We talked scheme and effort, what else can you do?" Hentges said.

Helias scored on the first possession of the third quarter when Adam Wilbers hauled in a 25-yard pass from Weaver for a touchdown.

Starting at its own 20, Monroe City then drove to the Helias 19 before being turned away on fourth down for the first stop by the Crusader defense in the game. The drive also had Monroe City's lone run for negative yards Friday night.

Helias had to punt the ball back to Monroe City and the Panthers put together another long drive. Monroe City got to the Helias 10 before being stopped on fourth down early in the fourth quarter.

The Crusaders then drove 90 yards in seven plays, capped by a 6-yard touchdown run by Weaver. Vito Calvaruso booted the third of his four PATs to cut Helias' deficit to 28-21.

Monroe City then drove deep into Helias territory again, only to turn it over on downs. Starting at its own 8, Helias marched 92 yards for the tying score. Weaver had 72 rushing yards on the drive, including a 6-yard run for a touchdown.

"Jake running it is as good as any quick game you can do at that point," Hentges said.

Calvaruso's PAT tied the game at 28 with 1:48 remaining.

"I thought about going for 2, but I really thought we had the momentum," Hentges said. "I guess it wouldn't have mattered since they drove right down the field."

Starting at their own 20, the Panthers got to the Crusader 4 with :01.4 remaining on the clock. Zach Osborn took a handoff on an inside sweep and made it to the end zone as time expired to give Monroe City the win.

"I think the adjustments we made at halftime were good, but we as coaches have to make them sooner," Hentges said.

Batsell led the way for Monroe City (6-1) with 276 yards on 41 carries as the Panthers finished with 433 yards on the ground.

The Crusaders had 330 yards of offense, including 140 yards passing and 120 more rushing by Weaver.

Helias (3-4) will play next Friday night at Rock Bridge (5-2, ranked No. 7 in Class 6). Game time is 7 p.m.