Crusaders outclassed by De Smet at home

Helias players Dylan Weaver (2) and Austin Radmacher (33) tackle a De Smet player during Friday's game at Ray Hentges Stadium.
Helias players Dylan Weaver (2) and Austin Radmacher (33) tackle a De Smet player during Friday's game at Ray Hentges Stadium.

Size matters.

"They are so big up front on both sides of the ball," Helias coach Chris Hentges said Friday night after the Crusaders dropped a 51-17 decision to the De Smet Spartans in their regular-season finale at Ray Hentges said.

The Spartans (7-2, ranked No. 5 in Class 6) used that size to their full advantage. De Smet finished with 530 yards of total offense, including 350 on the ground on 40 carries (8.8 avg.).

The Crusaders, starting three sophomores on the defensive line after last week's decision to have one-way starters, couldn't do much to slow the Spartans.

"They kind of got engulfed in their size and strength," Hentges said. "That opened up some holes for their running game."

Once the Spartans got past the line of scrimmage, more often than not, there were big gaps of open space to run.

"We need to work on cutting down the run lanes, getting our linebackers and our safeties to where they need to be to get some tackles and to finish those tackles," Hentges said.

De Smet scored on all five of its first-half possessions.

Starting at their own 20 after the opening kickoff, the Spartans drove 80 yards in eight plays to take the lead. A total of 59 of those yards came on the ground, including a 2-yard touchdown run by Taj Butts. Joey Zarrick booted the PAT and it was 7-0.

Helias got on the board on its first drive as well, going 80 yards in 11 plays. The score came on a 28-yard scramble by quarterback Jake Weaver and Vito Calvaruso's PAT tied the game at 7 with 4:18 remaining in the first quarter.

De Smet needed just four plays to take the lead for good. A 59-yard run by quarterback Luke Martens, a commit to Northern Iowa, keyed the 80-yard drive. Butts scored from 3 yards out and the PAT made it 14-7.

A 53-yard punt by Helias' Carson Stieferman then pinned De Smet back at its own 14.

But the Spartans were able to move the ball again, going the 86 yards to the end zone in a 10-play drive. Darez Snider scored on a 23-yard run and the extra point made it 21-7 a little more than two minutes into the second quarter.

Helias got the ball to midfield on its next drive, converting on a fourth-and-2 play for a first down. But on the next play. Weaver threw a pass that was picked off by defensive end Carter Edwards.

"That was my fault, it was a bad play-call," Hentges said. "That defensive end saw he wasn't getting blocked, stopped and got into coverage.

"That was a big play for that young man."

Edwards returned the ball to the Helias 22. Four plays later, Rico Barfield took it over from the 2 and it was 28-7.

After a Stieferman punt, De Smet got the ball back on its own 26 with 1:22 remaining before halftime. The Spartans drove to the Crusader 21 before Zarrick booted a 38-yard field goal with :01.2 on the clock to make it 31-7.

De Smet finished the first half with 298 yards of total offense.

Helias got the ball to start the second half and drove to the De Smet 15 before Calvaruso came on to drill a 32-yard field goal to make it 31-10.

De Smet made it 6-for-6 in scoring drives on its next possession, going 71 yards in seven plays. The score came on a 24-yard pass from Martens to Grant Stegeman. The extra point kick was wide and it was 37-10.

Helias got its final score on the next possession. A 39-yard pass on first down from Weaver to Jason Binkley got the Crusaders into Spartan territory. Six plays later, Blake Veltrop scored on a 2-yard run and Calvaruso's extra point made it 37-17 with 1:42 left in the third quarter.

Helias attempted an onside kick to try to get the ball back. After it looked like as many as three Crusaders had a shot at recovering it, a Spartan player came up with the ball.

"It was a great kick by Vito, it was laying there on the ground for us but we can't get it," Hentges said. "It was there for the taking."

The Spartans then went 53 yards in eight plays, with Butts getting his third touchdown run of the night, this one from 21 yards. The PAT made it 44-17.

De Smet added its final touchdown with 7:36 to play on a 10-yard pass from Martens to Teddy Delker. The Spartans opted not to go for the 2-point conversion to attempt to get a 35-point margin and the running clock, instead kicking the PAT to make it 51-17.

Helias went three plays and out on its next drive.

After a punt, De Smet drove to the Helias 3 before taking a series of knees to run out the clock.

It was the only possession of the night the Spartans did not score on.

De Smet had two players run for more than 100 yards - Snider totaled 107 on 10 carries, while Martens had 102 on nine attempts. Martens was 13-of-18 passing for 180 yards.

"It's a very talented team," Hentges said.

Weaver finished 12-of-18 through the air for 137 yards and led the Crusaders with 57 rushing yards on 13 attempts.

Helias (3-6) opens Class 4 District 5 action next Friday night at Union (7-2), which defeated Hermann 41-6 on Friday night to wrap up an undefeated Four Rivers Conference season.

It's the first time since the new district system was implemented Helias did not get a top-four seed to start the postseason with a home game.