It was a dash of outside and a heavy serving of inside.
The recipe added up for a victory.
Helias running backs Zach Covington and Blake Veltrop combined to rush for 331 yards Saturday to lead the Crusaders to a 57-28 victory against the Father Tolton Trailblazers on Homecoming at Ray Hentges Stadium.
"We executed the game plan, which was to run the football," Helias coach Chris Hentges said. "We wanted to control the ball, keep their offense off the field."
Covington, a junior, led the way with 206 yards on 25 carries as he continued to recover from a season-ending knee injury in his sophomore year.
"Zach is really gifted," Hentges said. "He can make a one-step cut and maintain his speed.
"He struggled during camp, was limping a little bit. But as the season has gone on, Zach has looked better and better in practice."
Veltrop totaled 125 on just five attempts.
"Blake is such an explosive runner outside," Hentges said. "When we can get him the ball in space, he is so dangerous."
Veltrop put that speed on display on Helias' first play from scrimmage. After forcing a Trailblazer punt, the Crusaders took over at their own 40.
On first down, Veltrop took a handoff from quarterback Jake Weaver on a jet sweep and sprinted 60 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown. Vito Calvaruso booted the PAT and Helias led 7-0 less than two minutes into the game.
Tolton answered, going 80 yards on eight plays to tie the game. The touchdown came on a 5-yard run by Connor Fogue.
Helias then drove to the Tolton 15 before the drive stalled as Calvaruso came on to kick a 33-yard field goal to give Helias the lead for good at 10-7.
The Crusaders got the better of an exchange of punts as Carson Stieferman's 44-yard kick was downed by Ethan Holzhauser at the Trailblazer 1.
Michael Stroesser then dragged down a Tolton runner in the end zone on the ensuing play for a safety and a 12-7 Helias lead with :58.7 remaining in the first quarter.
"That was big," Hentges said. "It was important to get those points at that point."
Helias got the ball back as Tolton had to kick it after the safety. It took two plays to find the end zone, the score coming on a 32-yard run by Covington. Calvaruso's second of eight PATs made it 19-7.
Tolton quarterback Robert Hunter cut into Helias' lead with a 10-yard scramble early in the second quarter to make it 19-14.
Helias got that score back in less than 30 seconds as Weaver and Veltrop hooked up for a 51-yard touchdown.
Alex Clement pushed Helias' advantage to 33-14 with 4:23 to go before halftime with a 4-yard touchdown run. Fogue's second 5-yard touchdown run of the game pulled Tolton to within 12 at 33-21 at the half.
"We're trying to play to our strengths," Hentges said. "The strength of our offense is our senior line and we need to put more of the game on their backs and that meant running the football."
If it worked on Helias' first play of the first quarter, why not try something similar on the first play of the third quarter?
This time, Veltrop got outside for a 57-yard touchdown run as Helias led 40-21 with 11:43 on the clock.
Covington ran for his second touchdown of the game later in the third quarter, with his 23-yard effort giving Helias a 47-21 advantage.
Covington was often running through holes opened by Dylan Kobb, a sophomore lineman who spent a lot of time in the Crusader backfield Saturday night.
"He's going to be a very good lineman for us some day," Hentges said. "We wanted to get to the defensive tackles and the linebackers and he did a very good job at that."
Tolton's final touchdown came with 3:24 remaining in the third quarter on a 5-yard pass from Hunter to Jake Washer to make it 47-28 with one quarter remaining.
Helias closed the scoring on a 20-yard field goal by Calvaruso and a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown by Dylan Weaver.
Heias finished with 440 total yards.
"As good as Tolton's offense is, we knew we needed to score every time we touched the football, we challenged our offense to do that," Hentges said.
They didn't on just three possessions Saturday night. The Crusaders punted twice and had the ball when the clock ran out in the first half.
"Your best defense is offensive ball control and we did that," Hentges said.
The loss snapped a three-game losing streak for the Crusaders.
"We were definitely more physical than we've played the last three weeks," Hentges said. "We challenged them to be football players, not someone who plays football. Enjoy it, don't be tentative, just go be the guy who makes a play, and I think we saw that tonight."
Hunter finished 21-of-42 passing for 222 yards. Fogue led Tolton (1-5) with 131 rushing yards on 19 carries.
Helias (3-3) is back in action Friday night when it hosts Monroe City (5-1). Monroe City, the defending Class 1 state champion, is ranked No. 7 in a move up to Class 2 this season,
"They've got quality kids and a rich tradition in their football program," Hentges said. "We know they're going to come down here and play hard."
Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.