The start time for the game was moved up two hours in an attempt to beat the weather.
As the Helias Crusaders took knees Friday night to wrap up a 45-14 victory against the Battle Spartans at Ray Hentges Stadium, the rain began to come down for the first time.
Timing is everything.
“We got the game done and the rain drops started to fall,” Helias coach Chris Hentges said after the Crusaders defeated the Spartans 45-14 in a Class 5 District 4 contest.
With the win, second-seeded Helias (9-2) will host fourth-seeded Timberland (8-3) in the title game at 7 p.m. next Friday. Timberland blanked top-seeded Holt 21-0 in a clash of Wentzville schools in its semifinal Friday.
“I’m so proud of what the kids have done in practice in the last few weeks and we’re going to need another great week of practice,” Hentges said.
The Crusaders got off to a rough start against the Spartans, going three-and-out on the first series of the game. After a short punt into the wind, the Spartans took over at their own 39.
The Spartans pieced together a 10-play drive to score the first touchdown of the game, that coming on a 3-yard run by quarterback Justin Goolsby. Graham Hoffman added the extra point and Battle led 7-0 with 7:33 left in the first quarter.
“It’s never good to start in bad field position and have a three-and-out,” Hentges said. “But there were still plays to be made and we made them.”
Helias answered with a 10-play scoring drive of its own, this one going 68 yards. A 22-yard run by Mason French on fourth-and-2 gave Helias the ball inside the Battle 10.
Two plays later, Alex Marberry scored from 7 yards out and Nic Calvaruso’s PAT tied the game at 7 with a little more than two minutes left in the first quarter.
Battle got the ball to midfield on its next possession and faced a fourth-and-4. Nate Roark of the Crusaders came up with a big stop, bringing down Battle running back Rickie Dunn at the line of scrimmage to give the ball back to Helias with :08.2 remaining in the quarter.
“The defense had a lot of good stops tonight,” Hentges said.
On the next play, Helias running back Brady Rush took the handoff from Drew Miller and ran 50 yards for a touchdown as the clock ticked down to :00.0. Calvaruso’s second of six extra points gave Helias a 14-7 lead heading to the second quarter.
Battle started its next drive at its own 20 and drove down to the Helias 3, where it was first-and-goal. The Spartans were flagged for offside to move back five yards, then lost a yard on second down before throwing a pair of incompletions.
On fourth down, Goolsby scrambled under pressure before throwing the ball to the end zone. Maddox Alfultis of Helias was there for the interception and he went down in the end zone to give the Crusaders the ball at their own 20.
Six plays later, Miller connected with Lucas Bloomer for a 33-yard touchdown and a 21-7 Helias lead midway through the second quarter.
Battle’s next drive also ended with an interception, as Sam Lopez returned it to the Battle 16. French then ran it four straight plays, the last for a 1-yard touchdown and Helias led 28-7.
The Spartans came back with a four-play, 80-yard scoring drive. The touchdown came on a 59-yard pass from Goolsby to Jayden Donnelly and Hoffman’s extra point cut Helias’ lead to 28-14 with just under two minutes to go before intermission.
But that was enough time for the Helias offense to score again. The Crusaders went 63 yards in six plays, with the touchdown coming on a 34-yard pass from Miller to Bloomer as Helias led 35-14 at the half.
Calvaruso made it 38-14 a little less than five minutes into the third quarter with a 21-yard field goal.
The Crusaders’ last score came with 3:47 remaining in the third quarter on a 25-yard pass from Miller to Trey Bexten that made the final 45-14.
Battle finished with 267 total yards -- 141 rushing and 126 passing. The Spartans had 211 of those yards in the first half.
Helias totaled 245 rushing yards on 43 attempts, while Miller was 11-of-20 passing for 184 yards.