COLUMBIA, Mo. - For two quarters, the Helias Crusaders did a pretty good job of slowing down Rock Bridge Bruins senior running back Nate Peat.
Then came the third quarter.
Peat, who recently committed to Stanford, ran for three touchdowns in the third quarter as the Bruins defeated the Crusaders 52-28.
"Stanford does not recruit bad running backs," Helias coach Chris Hentges said.
Peat had 84 yards on 12 carries in the first half. But he ran for 60 yards on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter to give Rock Bridge a 24-14 lead.
On Rock Bridge's next possession, Peat went 55 yards for another score. The third possession of the quarter ended with a 28-yard touchdown run by Peat.
Peat ran it nine times in the third quarter for a total of 261 yards. He finished the game with 378 yards on 26 carries.
"Obviously he's a great running back," Hentges said. "We just didn't have an answer for him."
Rock Bridge took the lead midway through the first quarter on a 34-yard field goal by Nate Norris.
Helias jumped ahead 7-3 on a 5-yard run by quarterback Jake Weaver with 10:31 remaining in the second quarter, followed by the first of four PATs by Vito Calvaruso.
It took four plays for the Bruins to regain the lead, the touchdown coming on a 64-yard pass from quarterback Grant Hajicek to Peat and it was 10-7.
After a punt, an interception return of 71 yards by Ethan Johnson gave the Crusaders the ball at the Bruin 19. On first down, Weaver hit Adam Wilbers for a touchdown and a 14-10 Helias advantage with a little under six minutes to play before halftime.
The Crusader defense forced a Bruin punt on the next possession and Helias took over at its own 26. On third down, the officials ruled the Crusaders fumbled and the Bruins took over at the Helias 21. Two plays later, Hajicek scored from 9 yards out and Rock Bridge took a 17-14 lead into halftime.
Helias did score a pair of touchdowns in between Peat's long runs in the third quarter.
Running back Zach Covington connected with Wilbers on a 38-yard pass midway through the quarter that cut Helias' deficit to 31-21. With 3:15 to go in the quarter, Weaver tossed a 36-yard touchdown pass to Jason Binkley to make the score 38-28.
"The kids kept battling, they never quit," Hentges said.
Rock Bridge got on the board in the final minute of the third quarter on a 51-yard pass from Hajicek to Martz Manuel to take a 45-28 lead into the fourth.
Peyton Carr had a 4-yard touchdown run with a little less than 10 minutes remaining to account for Rock Bridge's final touchdown.
The Bruins finished with 612 total yards Friday night. Rock Bridge carried it 36 times for 440 yards, while Hajicek was 11-of-17 for 172 yards through the air.
The Crusaders were 22-of-38 passing for 321 yards.
"There were some positives in this game and our passing game was one of them," Hentges said.
Helias struggled to get much going on the ground, rushing for 50 yards on 30 carries.
Rock Bridge (6-2, No. 6 in Class 6 in the Missouri Media Rankings) will close the regular season next Friday night at Francis Howell.
Helias (3-5) will host De Smet (6-2) next Friday night at Ray Hentges Stadium. De Smet, ranked No. 5 in Class 6, defeated Cape Girardeau Central 63-0 on Friday night.
The Crusaders remain fifth in the Class 4 District 5 standings after Friday night's games.