ST. LOUIS - Trailing by 27 points at the half Friday night, rallying for a victory was a long shot at best for the Helias Crusaders.
But the Crusaders still had some things to play for in the final two quarters.
"I liked our fight in the second half," Helias coach Chris Hentges said after the Crusaders dropped a 61-35 decision to the Cardinal Ritter Lions. "Offensively, we came to life with some drives. Defensively, we got some stops and made them punt it a few times.
"I think we can build off our efforts in the second half and find a little positive there."
Helias did outscore Cardinal Ritter 21-20 in the final two quarters.
"Those weren't moral victory points, they had their starters in until the end," Hentges said.
Helias got on the board first Friday night. After returning the opening kickoff to the 30, Blake Veltrop took the pitch from Jake Weaver around the left side and sprinted 70 yards for the score.
"Blake made a great cut and he was gone," Hentges said.
But that lead lasted less than 20 seconds of game time.
"They answered real fast," Hentges said.
After Vito Calvaruso booted the ensuing kickoff into the end zone for a touchback, Cardinal Ritter started at its own 20. The first-down play ended in the end zone as Lions quarterback Mekhi Hagens connected with a sprinting Cameron Coleman in stride down the left side for an 80-yard score.
It was the first of seven touchdown passes for Hagens that averaged 44 yards per score. He finished 16-of-22 passing for 458 yards and also ran for a 31-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
"That's the best we've seen him this season," Hentges said.
Helias had problems getting pressure on Hagens, who entered the game with 613 yards passing in the first three weeks.
"Their offensive line did a good job of staying foot-to-foot and not allowing us to get a rush going," Hentges said. "That gave (Hagens) all kinds of time to get the ball to their great athletes in space and we didn't have the speed to catch them."
The Lions led 28-7 after one quarter and stretched that advantage to 41-7 in the second as they scored the first six times they had the ball.
"We struggled to tackle and we put ourselves into a tremendous hole," Hentges said. "We just needed more stops."
A 4-yard touchdown run by Veltrop, followed by the second of five PATs by Calvaruso, with 1:03 remaining in the second quarter cut Cardinal Ritter's lead to 41-14 at intermission.
Veltrop finished with a season-high 180 yards on the ground.
"We did a nice job of running the ball," Hentges said.
Two touchdown passes by Hagens in the opening four minutes of the third quarter pushed Cardinal Ritter's lead to 54-14.
Helias got a pair of scores later in the quarter - a 32-yard run by Weaver and a 21-yard pass from backup quarterback Zach Wohlken to Jason Binkley.
Weaver had to come out of the game with bruised ribs after a hit near the Helias sideline. He left the game again in the fourth quarter due to cramps.
"Jake's a tough kid," Hentges said.
Wohlken did a good job running the Helias offense, throwing for 112 yards and two scores. He had a 17-yard touchdown pass to Adam Wilbers with less than three minutes left in the game.
"He did a good job and thew some nice balls," Hentges said. "I liked what I saw."
Cardinal Ritter made it 61-35 with a touchdown in the final minute.
The Crusaders bettered the Lions in one stat category. Helias finished with a 21-11 edge in first downs, with that big advantage buoyed by the long-distance scores by Cardinal Ritter.
"We have to put our kids in a better position to win, that's on all of us as coaches," Hentges said.
Helias (2-2) is back in action Friday at home against Borgia (4-0). Game time is 7 p.m.
Cardinal Ritter, ranked No. 3 in Class 3, is now 4-0.