Aug. 22, 2018

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. --- This wasn't merely a case of football musical chairs in the offseason, it was a full-blown opera.

And every coach found a chair.

Ted LePage left the Jefferson City Jays and returned to Blair Oaks, where he coached from 2001-05 and won a state championship.

Terry Walker left Blair Oaks and returned to the Jays, his alma mater and where he served as an assistant coach for two years under LePage.

Chris Hentges simply stayed home and returned to the sidelines as head coach of the Crusaders, where he went 50-12 from 2006-10.

It was dizzying. Having said that, the least amount of music came from Helias.

There's no place like home, after all.

"The more things change, the more things stay the same, I guess," Hentges said. "It's three very successful programs, historically, and I think all three have high expectations for their football programs.

"I think it will be an interesting season, just as it was an interesting offseason. All three of us have that same desire to build on the great traditions, and all of us have great love for the schools we're at."

The tradition of the Helias program took a bit of a hit the last three seasons, when Tim Rulo failed to solve the riddle and went 17-18, and failed to win a district title after the Crusaders had won eight straight.

"Being at school every day," Hentges said, "I noticed there was a little bit of a loss of confidence with the boys. I'm so close to the program and I kind of know what it's supposed to look like and feel like, and things were different.

"One thing we've had in our years of success, Helias football players were always very confident and we're trying to re-establish that."

Hentges stepped aside for three years to watch his son, Hale, play for Alabama. 

"The last three years, I was playing the role of teacher and father and husband," he said. "But it's been really good getting back into it, starting with our summer camp in June --- it's just been a lot of fun, I like the challenge and the X's and O's.

"It's just been a joy being back, it just feels right being back as a part of Helias football."

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HENTGES HAS A GREAT "PROBLEM" to deal with --- too many good quarterbacks.

"I feel really good about the talent level we have at that position," he said. "But there's only one guy who gets to take that first snap Friday night."

The nod for Friday night's opener at Hannibal goes to senior Daniel Rhea, the returning starter who beat out talented sophomores Jake Weaver and Zach Wolken.

The decision was made Tuesday.

"It was a fair, open competition throughout camp, and all three quarterbacks had opportunities," Hentges said. "It was neck and neck.

"But in the end, I just think the difference was Daniel's senior leadership and experience. It's a long season and I know it's a cliche', but the second-unit quarterback (Weaver) is just one play away from being the starting quarterback.

"All three of those young men are men of high character and I know they're going to handle it well. And I'm sure there will be opportunities to play, too, that's the nature of high school football."

Rulo tried --- mostly unsuccessfully --- to run the flexbone offense. Now, Hentges is taking the Crusaders back to the spread offense.

"It's a dramatically different offense for all positions, even the offensive line," Hentges said. "It's just a different offensive philosophy.

"But again, I always brag on the kids at Helias being intelligent, hard-working kids who give it their all.These kids, I think, have done a remarkable job of learning our systems on both offense and defense."

When you hear spread offense, you think pass first ... pass second ... pass third. Not so, especially with Rhea at the helm

"We're going to try and establish the run, we have to," Hentges said. "Daniel is a very dynamic runner; it's very hard to get a hit on him in open space. He's still coming along as a passer, but he's come a long way since last year."

Speaking of dynamic ... senior running back Blake Veltrop is like catching a feather in a hurricane.

Veltrop, who rushed for 945 yards (8.4 avg.) and 13 touchdowns last season, has great eyes, feet, quickness and flat-out speed.

Catch him if you can.

"When you think about toughness," Hentges said, "Blake's one of those kids. He practices very hard, he plays very hard, and he's got great breakaway speed. When he breaks into the open field and you see the defense, it looks like they have an angle on him --- but they don't, he outruns them."

The Crusaders didn't have much success through the air last season, as evidenced by this: senior Zach Woehr is the top returning receiver --- and he caught seven passes. And that was good enough for second on the team.

That's hard to believe. That may have been good enough in the days of the leather helmet, but these days, not so much.

Helias will certainly change that this season, with help from startering receivers Jason Binkley and Ethan Johnson, both seniors, with several others --- including Woehr --- rotating in.

"We've got some receivers with good speed," Hentges said.

The senior-laden line includes Jim Donovan, who was an all-state center last year, who will move to guard this season; Steven Houser, Zach Vanderfeltz and Teddy Chin, with sophomore Dylan Kopp getting the start at right tackle.

Those linemen will basically play on defense, as well, a defense Hentges says doesn't have the elite players, but "we're solid across the board."

Linebackers to watch include seniors Colden Imhoff and Nathan Distler, and junior Garrett Schnieders, while the secondary will be anchored by senior Adam Wilbers and junior Dylan Weaver at the corners, and safeties Johnson and senior Adam Radmacher

The defense was quite good in Friday's Jamboree at Blair Oaks. But then again, that was a Jamboree.

"We played really well the other night," Hentges said. "We will be better defensively than we were last year (when the Crusaders gave up 35 or more points seven times during their 6-6 season)," Hentges said.

"I can promise you that."

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CHRIS HENTGES IS AN ETERNAL OPTIMIST, just like his dad was and is --- the guy they named the stadium after, Ray Hentges.

But at this point, Chris is cautiously optimistic.

"We'll know a lot more after Week 3," he said. "Through my years in coaching, I've always said the kids make the biggest improvements between Week 1 and Week 2, and Week 2 and Week 3.

"You can look really bad in Week 1 and get your players to see that they need to work harder and clean up these fundamentals, and then they make big improvements the next two weeks."

The Crusaders haven't won a district since 2014, when they won their eye-popping eighth straight in Phil Pitts' final season as head coach.

"In my heart," Hentges said, "I think this team can go a long way. Talent-wise, it's there. If we as coaches continue to develop that talent, I think we're in for a special season.

"This senior group is a special class and they want to do something special. It's more than just talk, you can feel it in the way they practice and the way they're handling themselves. The care they have for one another ... they're really a tight-knit group and that's a special thing to have.

"In the end, they're playing for each other, that's the strongest bond a team can have. There's a real brotherhood there that's giving me hope we're going to have a very special season."

You get the feeling the shine of Helias tradition --- once brighter than the Crusaders' golden helmets --- is already back, don't you?

Loeffler's Link

Chris Hentges says it "feels right" being back on the sidelines as head coach of the Crusaders.

Hentges 'feels right' back

on sidelines; Rhea to start at QB