The final score might not indicate what kind of game it was Friday night at Ray Hentges Stadium.
"The score looks a little lopsided, but that game was in doubt a lot of the night," Helias coach Chris Hentges said after the Class 4 No. 1 Crusaders defeated the Class 6 No. 10 Rock Bridge Bruins 56-24 on Homecoming. "We were able to pull away a bit at the end, but it sure felt closer than that."
The key to the game was Helias had a quick answer after a Rock Bridge score. Three of the four times the Bruins got on the scoreboard, the Crusaders responded with a touchdown on the ensuing possession.
"We kept them off balance, we were one step ahead of them a lot of the time," Hentges said. "We big-played them when they gave them to us, we churned it when we had to do that."
Helias got on the board on the game's first possession, going 66 yards on 10 plays. The score came on an 11-yard run by Alex Clement and the first of eight extra points by Vinnie Calvaruso gave Helias a 7-0 lead.
"You want to set the tone," Hentges said.
Rock Bridge took advantage of Helias' lone turnover of the game to get its first score as an interception by Hudson Gibbs had the Bruins at the Crusader 13.
But the Helias defense kept Rock Bridge out of the end zone and Jack Bower came on to boot a 26-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter to make it 7-3.
Helias then went 51 yards on six plays to get back in the end zone. A 5-yard run by quarterback Jake Weaver on fourth-and-1 at the Bruin 42 kept the drive alive before Weaver connected with Cole Stumpe for a 31-yard touchdown as Helias led 14-3 with 9:06 to go before halftime.
Rock Bridge scored on its next drive, with the touchdown coming on a 24-yard pass from Nathan Dent to Mason Gortmeyer on a fourth-and-11 play. Bauer's PAT cut Helias' lead to 14-10.
A 20-yard touchdown run from Weaver capped Helias' next drive as the Crusaders extended their lead to 21-10 with 5:20 remaining in the second quarter.
After a Rock Bridge punt, Helias got the ball back at its own 14 with 2:40 on the clock. Clement picked up 20 yards on two carries, then Weaver hit Kaden Hampson for 18 yards to get the Crusaders into Bruin territory.
Drew Higgins then pulled down a 32-yard reception to get Helias to the Rock Bridge 16. Three plays later, Weaver and Higgins connected for a 16-yard touchdown and Helias took a 28-10 advantage into intermission.
Rock Bridge scored on the first drive of third quarter, going 80 yards on nine plays. The score again came on a fourth-and-long play as Dent threaded a pass between a pair of Helias defenders to Payton Messer for a 25-yard touchdown. Bauer's PAT made it 28-17.
Helias needed just five plays to get that score back, with the touchdown coming on a 28-yard run by Clement on his first carry of the second half.
On the next drive, the Bruins were faced with a fourth-and-1 at the Crusader 19. Helias defenders Isaac Lopez and Jacob Watson teamed up bring down Rock Bridge running back Bryce Jackson for a 13-yard loss to get the ball back to the Crusaders.
That play aside, Jackson was a handful for the Crusader defense all night, running 28 times for 167 yards.
"He's a great back, the best one we've seen this year," Hentges said.
On the next play, Weaver found Stumpe on a quick hitter right down the middle and Stumpe sprinted 68 yards for the score that gave Helias a 42-17 lead with 3:24 left in the third quarter.
"I am proud of our grit, our ability to keep plugging and plugging and plugging," Hentges said.
Rock Bridge scored on the final play from scrimmage in the third quarter on a 27-yard pass from Dent to Chi'dron White.
Ryan Klahr scored on a 6-yard run with 6:26 remaining to extend Helias lead to 49-24. The Crusaders second-team offense tallied the final touchdown, using eight running plays to go 53 yards. The touchdown came on a 14-yard run by Carson Brauner.
Helias finished the game with 535 total yards - 288 rushing and 247 passing. Clement finished with 13 carries for 105 yards to lead the ground game. Weaver finished 12-of-16 passing to account for Helias' yardage through the air.
"Anytime you have more than 500 yards of offense against a Class 6 ranked opponent, you've done something well," Hentges said.
Rock Bridge finished with 199 yards rushing. Dent was 10-of-23 passing for 137 yards with one interception. Clement had the interception for the Crusaders.
Rock Bridge is now 4-1, 3-1 in the Central Missouri Activities Conference.
Helias (5-0, 3-0) will make its return to Adkins Stadium next Friday night to take on the Capital City Cavaliers (0-5, 0-4). Game time is 7 p.m.