Loeffler's Link

Sept. 1, 2017

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. --- They're sure not making it easy on themselves.

In the quest to get their first win at Ray Hentges Stadium, Helias lost its opener to Hannibal --- a team that's had the Crusaders' number in recent years, beating them five straight and ending their season the last two seasons.

Friday night, the schedule makers gave Helias a date with Belleville (Ill.)-Althoff --- a team that's even better than Hannibal.

The first home win will come, but will have to wait at least one more week.

In a battle of Crusaders, Richard Cosey rushed for three touchdowns as the Illinois Crusaders turned back a gritty effort by Helias in a 21-15 win before another full house at Hentges Stadium.

Hannibal and now Althoff ... tough draws, to be sure. But if Helias wants to posture itself as a good team, it needs to beat one of these good teams at some point.

The homestanding Crusaders almost did Friday night.

Althoff (2-0) is ranked second in Class 4 in Illinois, where there are eight classifications. These Crusaders are now 26-2 since 2015, they finished second in the state two years ago and lost by one point in the quarterfinals last year to the eventual Class 4 champion.

Althoff scored a combined 105 points against Helias the last two years in a pair of lopsided wins. But this one came down to the game's final play.

On the game's first play, however, it seemed like more of the same. But a 62-yard gain by quarterback Hayes Taylor was called back for holding and four plays later, Althoff turned it over, a fumble recovered by Kyle Feltrop.

After picking up a pair of first downs, Helias took a 3-0 lead on a 33-yard field goal by Vito Calvaruso with 4:40 left in the first quarter.

It was clear Helias didn't want to get in a shootout with Althoff, because that certainly didn't work the last two years. The Crusaders drained the play clock on every offensive snap and only attempted one pass in the first half, keeping the game short and manageable.

It worked. The lead grew to 9-0 midway through the second quarter when Coldon Imhoff busted free up the middle on a 28-yard touchdown run to cap a five-play, 58-yard drive.

Then, the game changed ... for the second straight time at the new stadium.

Against Hannibal, the big game-changer was a weather delay --- and the Pirates promptly scored the game's final 28 points to pull out a 41-28 win.

Against Althoff, it was a change at quarterback. With its offense sputtering, Taylor was benched in favor of Connor Sheehan, and he proved to be the difference-maker.

He completed his first seven passes --- Taylor had been 1-for-7 for six yards --- for 83 yards, and that opened up the running lanes for the more athletic Crusaders. Namely, it was Posey, who scored on a 1-yard run with 4:42 left in the first half to make it 9-7.

Althoff lost a fumble inside the Helias 5 late in the half, but then had a pair of overpowering touchdown drives in the third quarter --- a three-play, 58-yard drive capped by Posey's 20-yard run, and a six-play, 63-yard surge that was finished off by a 1-yard plunge by Posey on fourth and goal to make it 21-9 entering the fourth.

Helias made it interesting late, as 16-yard pass from Daniel Rhea to Nathan Bax cut the deficit to 21-15 with 19 seconds left. Helias then recovered the onside kick, but couldn't do anything with it.

The next try for Win One at Hentges Stadium comes next Friday, when the Crusaders host Columbia Hickman (0-3) at 7 p.m. Will that be the night?

Well, with their 28-9 loss to the Jefferson City Jays on Friday night, the Kewpies have now lost 22 of 23 and 31 of 33 the last three-plus years. At the very least, however, Hickman has been competitive in all three losses this season, which was not the case the previous three.

In other words, it's no lock, which is really no surprise.

Because it's never easy.

In battle of Crusaders, Althoff

turns back gritty effort by Helias