Pay too much attention to their record at your peril.
That's been the message Helias coaches have impressed on the team as the Class 5 No. 6 Crusaders (7-1) close the regular season tonight in St. Louis against the Vianney Griffins (1-7).
"Don't look at the record, there's a lot of Class 5 and Class 6 teams that would have played that schedule, they'd be sitting at 1-7 as well," Helias coach Chris Hentges said.
"They've been up against so many Goliaths, it can be hard to see what they can do."
Vianney opened the season with a 42-40 loss to Soldan, which received attention early in the year in the Missouri Media Rankings. In addition to C.B.C., currently tied for the No. 1 spot in Class 6, and Class 6 No. 4 De Smet, the Griffins have played Class 4 No. 7 Vashon.
"To play De Smet, Chaminade, SLUH, I don't know many teams that would have a better record," Hentges said.
Vianney picked up its first win of the season last Friday night with a 42-0 victory against Bishop DuBourg.
"You saw their potential last week," Hentges said. "You could see what they are capable of on offense and defense."
Vianney quarterback Paul Berra was 6-of-8 passing for 125 yards and two touchdowns.
"He's capable of throwing it all around the yard," Hentges said. "But he's athletic and he can get out of the pocket if you let him."
For the season, Berra is 77-of-132 through the air for 962 yards and seven touchdowns to go along with six interceptions.
"Quick screens, bubble screens, slant game, they will go vertical," Hentges said. "We've put in more work on pass defense than we have in the past couple of weeks, which were just run, run, run."
Kel Battle leads Vianney's receivers with 47 receptions for 509 yards. He caught 11 passes for 162 yards in the game against St. Louis University High this season. Jack Burke is next with 39 catches for 491 yards and four scores.
Vianney likes to throw the football under head coach Chad Masters, the former head coach at Father Tolton.
"It reminds you of when he was at Tolton, they maybe don't throw it quite as much," Hentges said.
The Griffins have thrown the ball about 60 percent of the time on offense this season. But Hentges said that may have something to do with the fact Vianney has been trailing in games.
Vianney ran the ball 33 times for 123 yards in the win against Bishop DuBourg, Chase Bresler led the way with 64 yards on eight carries.
Defensively, Vianney is allowing 46.9 points per game.
Turner Hasaker leads the team with 61 total tackles and three fumble recoveries. Mark Myers is close behind with 49 tackles to go along with a pair of sacks and two fumble recoveries. Bresler tops the team with three sacks.
Vianney operates out of a 3-4 front, but has shifted to different formations in games this season.
"We're expecting that 3-4 because we've seen them use it this season against offenses that are similar to ours," Hentges said. "But we know we have to be ready to see other things as well."
Helias is coming off a 35-3 victory last Friday at Sedalia Smith-Cotton to wrap up its second straight undefeated Central Missouri Activities Conference season.
The Crusaders scored the first 35 points of the game, then allowed a field goal on the final play for the lone points for the Tigers.
"The number of plays, the score, it was an odd game," Hentges said.
Helias punted on the first play of the fourth quarter last Friday and the Crusader offense never got the ball again with the running clock.
"We played well in spurts, particularly in the first half," Hentges said.
The Crusaders are looking for a better effort tonight.
"Honestly, last week our focus wasn't quite what it needed to be in practice and I think that carried over into the game," Hentges said. "We've challenged the team this week and I think it's been a good week of practice."
The Helias scout team has had a good week preparing the starters for tonight's game, Hentges said.
"Vianney does a lot of what we do, so that gave us a pretty good look this week," he said. "The scout team dialed it up. When they've been successful and gaining yards or stopping our No. 1 offense, that should motivate the starters that they are getting handled by the 2s, 3s and 4s."
Hentges thinks this is a building year in what promises to be a bright future for the Griffins.
"Coach Masters is building a really good program there, I think they have some very bright days ahead of them," he said. "They're very young, they play hard and we're expecting a great challenge."
The Crusaders would like to keep the Griffins on the schedule.
"We're hoping this will be a Week 9 game and relationship we can keep for a long, long time," Hentges said. "A fellow Catholic school out of St. Louis that has a similar mission and philosophy, I think it's two evenly-matched programs."
Game time is 7 p.m.
Notes: Helias and Vianney split their last two meetings, each winning on the road. Helias posted a 41-28 victory in St. Louis during the 2019 season. The two teams did not play their scheduled meeting last year at the Crusader Athletic Complex due to COVID-19 travel restrictions in St. Louis. ... The Crusaders are locked in the No. 2 spot in the Class 5 District 4 standings behind Holt in the six-team district and will have a bye in Week 10. "We'd prefer to have a game, but we will make it a week of focusing on ourselves," Hentges said. Helias will host a district semifinal Nov. 5. The Helias defense has allowed just 51 points in the last seven weeks. Gage Wilde had eight tackles to lead the Crusaders against Smith-Cotton, while Tyler Sandbothe and Beau Bondurant had seven each. For the season, Wilde tops the team with 62 total tackles. Sandbothe has 51, while Bondurant has 48. Bondurant leads with seven sacks, while Korbin Fisher has five. Helias tight end Trey Bexten will miss tonight's game after suffering an elbow injury last week against Smith-Cotton.