The Helias Crusaders are getting the gang back together.
Healthy as they’ve been since Week 4, the Crusaders (8-2) will host the Battle Spartans (3-7) in Class 5 District 4 semifinal action tonight at Ray Hentges Stadium.
“We’re getting a lot of our experienced players back,” Helias coach Chris Hentges said. “I’m happy for the seniors, they are going to get a chance to take the field at least one more time and not have their seasons end because of an injury.”
It’s a good time for reinforcements. Battle, the No. 6 seed, upended third-seeded Capital City 34-14 last Friday night at Adkins Stadium after dropping a 41-32 decision to the Cavaliers in Week 2.
In Week 3, Helias defeated Battle 58-16.
“They’re a football team that has just avenged a loss against Capital City and I’m sure they’re preaching there’s another loss than can avenge against Helias,” Hentges said. “I’m sure they are going to come down here ready to play great football.”
The Week 3 score is a bit misleading. The Spartans took a 16-10 lead into halftime before the Crusaders rattled off 48 unanswered points in the final two quarters in what Hentges said at the time was the best half of football Helias had played in a long time.
“We grabbed the momentum and never gave it back to them,” Hentges said. “We had a lot of big plays, the offense was clicking and the defense got us the ball back.
“It’s very unusual to score 48 points in a half, especially against a team like Battle.”
Offense has not been a problem this season for Battle. The Spartans have scored 32 or more points in eight of their 10 games and are totaling more than 400 yards of offense per game.
“Those are great numbers, you would think they would have more than three wins,” Hentges said.
Rickie Dunn, Justin Goolsby and Daqual Wright spark the Battle offense.
“Our guess is 90 percent of their offense is going to go through those three guys,” Hentges said.
Dunn (6-foot-2, 225-pound sr.) has proven to be a handful for opponents in the Spartan run game. He ran 28 times for 146 yards and a touchdown in the first meeting against Helias.
“I’m glad I don’t have to tackle him,” Hentges said.
Last week against Capital City, Dunn totaled 220 yards and four touchdowns on 29 carries.
“You never stop him, but I think we did a good job of containing him,” Hentges said. “You have to get to him before he gets going because once he gets going, he’s a handful.
“If he gets into the secondary, he’s very tough to tackle.”
Goolsby (6-3, 205 sr.) is the Battle quarterback. He was 10-of-13 for 144 yards and a touchdown against the Cavaliers after going 10-of-22 for 174 yards while running six times for 38 yards in the game against Helias.
“He’s a dangerous runner who can throw the football,” Hentges said.
Wright (5-10, 150 jr.) had three catches for 89 yards and a score against Capital City. He had six catches for 78 yards and a touchdown in the first meeting with Helias.
The Battle defense has improved since the first meeting against Helias. The Spartans have changed from a 4-2-5 formation to playing more 4-3.
“They’ve kept the four-front, but they’ve changed some things off the line,” Hentges said.
And there’s been some personnel changes, with some offensive-minded players moving to the defensive side.
“If you’ve got one of your best players sitting when you’re on defense, that doesn’t make much sense,” Hentges said. “At this time of the year, you want to get your best football players on the field.
“That’s our philosophy, best kids play. All you want this time of the year is to win and get to that next line in the playoff bracket.”
Both coaching staffs have likely spent the week taking a critical look at the tape from the first meeting.
“What worked, why did it work? That’s the great question,” Hentges said. “Did it work because it was a great scheme? Or did it work because they had a breakdown in their defensive structure or their offensive structure? And how do you fix that?”
In the first meeting, Helias made a series of adjustments on defense at halftime that shut down the Battle offense in the final two quarters. Waiting until halftime tonight may be too late.
“We’ll see which team learned from that first game and what kind of adjustments need to be made, not just at halftime, but in the first and second quarters,” Hentges said.
The Crusaders are getting some key players back from injury tonight in seniors Jack Klebba, Trevor Kolb, Henry Neuenswander and Dalton Scheulen.
“Just to be getting healthy is nice to see,” Hentges said.
Notes: With rain in the forecast for tonight, the game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start. “We’ve had a few rainy practices this year, we try to prepare for what-ifs,” Hentges said. The start time could be changed in an effort to avoid the potential lightning with the storm. Any potential change will be announced this morning. … Helias is 4-3 all-time against Battle, including wins in the last three meetings by a combined score of 133-57. … Logan Montoya had 10 tackles and Ben Lanigan had eight stops in Helias’ district opening 55-13 win against Liberty: Wentzville last Friday. A total of 24 Crusaders had at least one tackle in the game. … Top-seeded Holt (9-0) will host fourth-seeded Timberland (8-2) in the other district game. With a win, Helias would play at Holt or host Timberland in the district title game next Friday.