WASHINGTON, Mo. - For the second straight game for the Helias Crusaders, the score was 41-7 at halftime.
But Friday night, it was the Crusaders who had the 41.
"The message was still the same, come out and play hard in the second half," Helias coach Chris Hentges said after Friday night's 47-7 win against the Borgia Knights.
And for the most part, the Crusaders did just that just six days after trailing by that same score to Cardinal Ritter.
"We came out a little flat, got a couple of penalties to hurt some drives in the third quarter," Hentges said. "But to come out and continue to execute with our young kids was important and we did that."
The starters definitely executed in their time on the field.
After Borgia scored on a 66-yard pass on the game's opening drive, Helias answered with a 66-yard touchdown pass of its own on its first play from scrimmage.
Jake Weaver connected with Jake Warren on a bubble screen and Warren sprinted down the right sideline for the score and the game was tied at 7.
Helias' defense stiffened the remainder of the first half, holding Borgia to 63 yards in 16 plays.
"Our defense knuckled down after that and played really solid," Hentges said.
On the other side, there was no stopping the Helias offense as the Crusaders scored on all seven of their first-half possessions.
Field position was big Friday night. After getting the ball at their own 34 on the first drive, the Crusaders started four times in Knights' territory in the first half, with two other drives beginning at the Helias 49.
"We did what we needed to do offensively," Hentges said.
Vito Calvaruso kicked a 25-yard field goal to give the Crusaders a 10-7 advantage with 7:08 left in the first quarter. Weaver and Griffin Buschjost connected for a pair of touchdown passes in the final four minutes of the first quarter. The scores of 51 and 8 yards, respectively, gave Helias a 24-7 lead heading into the second quarter.
Helias went to the ground to score a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter. Ryan Klahr's 6-yard run with 8:20 left made it 31-7. Weaver then took it over from 2 yards out with 5:31 remaining to make it 38-7.
Calvaruso's 37-yard field goal with 1:06 left pushed Helias' lead to 41-7 at halftime.
Helias had 299 yards of offense in the first two quarters. Weaver was 12-of-14 passing for 254 yards.
Borgia entered the game running the ball on about 75 percent of its plays this season. But early on, the Knights were throwing it.
Borgia had 16 carries for 29 yards in the first two quarters to go along with a 6-of-20 performance in the air for 114 yards.
"They had some on target, they just dropped a couple," Hentges said. "It could have been a little closer ballgame if they make a couple of those catches."
Borgia quarterback Sam Heggemann entered the game averaging a little more than 120 yards rushing per game this season. But Heggemann finished with just 49 yards on 12 carries Friday night.
"We thought that would be a thorn in our side," Hentges said.
The Helias starters played a couple of series in the third quarter. Weaver and Buschjost hooked up for their third touchdown of the night. This one was from 39 yards to make it 47-7.
Buschjost led the Crusaders with five catches for 134 yards in the game. Warren had four receptions for 121 yards despite battling a calf injury.
Weaver finished 15-of-20 for 300 yards and four touchdowns.
"We needed him to play like that," Hentges said. "Jake was on tonight."
The Knights did not get a sack of Weaver.
"The offensive like kept Jake clean and when that happens, it's always a good night," Hentges said.
Helias only punted twice Friday night. Calvaurso had a 41-yard boot on the Crusaders' opening drive of the second half. Vinnie Calvaruso then matched his older brother with a 41-yard kick on Helias' next-to-last possession of game.
That kick gave Borgia the ball at its own 15 to start the fourth quarter. The Knights pieced together an 18-play drive that got to the Crusader 3 before they turned it over on downs with a little more than a minute remaining as the starters cheered on the reserves from the sideline.
Helias has not allowed a point to their opponents in the fourth quarter this season.
"Our second-unit defense fought really hard and kept them out of the end zone," Hentges said.
Borgia (3-2, No. 9 in Class 3 in the Missouri Media Rankings) will play Friday at St. Dominic.
Helias (4-1, No. 9 in Class 4) will travel Friday to Columbia to take on Father Tolton (0-5). Game time is 7 p.m. Tolton lost 70-14 on Friday night at Cardinal Ritter.