COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Helias Crusaders made a statement early and often.
The Crusaders scored six of the first seven times they had the ball in the first half Friday night on their way to a 52-14 victory against the Hickman Kewpies.
"We went out there with something to prove," Helias coach Tim Rulo said. "We challenged everybody this week to take care of business and we did that."
After forcing a three-and-out on the first series of the game, the Crusaders needed just three plays to get on the scoreboard.
A 31-yard pass from Chandler Luebbert to Dalton Weaver got the Crusaders deep into Kewpie territory at the 20. Jacob Storms then ran for 10 before Luebbert got the touchdown with a 10-yard run of his own. Sam Heckart booted the PAT and it was 7-0 less than 21/2 minutes into the game.
After Helias lost a fumble on its next possession, an interception by Zach Stiles gave the Crusaders the ball at the Kewpie 35. Three plays later, Kaleb Davis scored on a 27-yard run up the middle and Heckart's PAT made it 14-0.
Helias made it 21-0 about three minutes later when Curtis Campbell connected with Stiles for a 21-yard touchdown pass.
Luebbert threw two touchdown passes in the second quarter - 21 yards to Weaver and a 41-yard strike to Nathan Bax - to give Helias a 35-0 lead.
Hickman got on the board with :43.9 remaining in the half on a 13-yard run by Andrew Paten to make it 35-7.
But Helias had a quick answer. Zach Covington returned the ensuing kickoff 55 yards to the Hickman 15. Davis took it in on the next play and Helias led 42-7 at the half.
Helias had 283 total yards in the first half - 160 rushing and 123 passing. Hickman had 80 on the ground and 58 passing for a total of 138.
The Crusaders got a 13-yard touchdown run by Logan Roling and a 30-yard field goal from Heckart in the third quarter to take a 51-7 lead into the final period.
Hickman got a 77-yard touchdown run from Christian Davis midway through the fourth quarter to make the final 52-14.
Helias finished with 417 yards of offense Friday night, 294 on the ground. The Crusaders did not throw a pass in the second half.
"We think we can be tough to stop because we have so many weapons," Rulo said.
Hickman totaled 233 yards of offense.
Helias (2-2) will host Battle (4-0) next Saturday at Adkins Stadium. Battle, No. 3 in Class 5 in the Missouri Media state rankings, defeated Vianney 55-52 on Friday night.
Hickman (0-4) will play Friday at Rock Bridge.