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Oct. 8, 2020

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. --- This is the game area fans have wanted to see,

They're getting get their wish, it just took 60 years.

Good things come to those fans who wait ... but 60 years seems like a bit much.

Some veteran fans of high school football say the talk of a game between the Jefferson City Jays and Helias Crusaders started around 1960.

The Jays were under the direction of a new head coach, Pete Adkins, who was just in his third year. But the school had been playing football since 1905.

Helias High School was flat-out new, period, having opened its doors in 1956.

Whispers of a game began around 1960. The whispers turned to screams in 1966.

In Ray Hentges' first game as Helias head coach, the Crusaders beat Columbia Hickman in the 1966 opener. Impressive win, but it became magnified 10-fold when Hickman beat the Jays later that season to snap Jefferson City's then-national record 71-game winning streak.

"That was a game I'll never forget," Hentges said of the win over the Kewpies. "That year, I think we would have given them (the Jays) one heck of a game.

"If we had played, football was so big back in those days, I think you could have charged five times the normal price and still filled the stadium."

It didn't happen that year. Or in 1967. Or 1968. It took another half-century before it became reality, as the Jays (3-3) host the Crusaders (6-0, No. 1 Class 4) at 7 p.m. Friday at Adkins Stadium.

Not playing the game for all those years, however, was probably best for all involved.

"Back when Pete and I both coached, the numbers game (enrollment) just got to us," Hentges said. "That was the biggest high school around back in those days and they had about three times the numbers we had ... we only had 600 or 700 kids. So for every two good athletes we had, they had six.

"Pete had a heck of a good program and in the 33 years that I coached --- and I believe Pete was coaching in 29 of those --- I would say there were maybe, mabye four or five years that I felt we could have stayed with them and possibly beat them."

Hentges continued.

"We had everything to gain and nothing to lose," he said, "they had everything to lose and nothing to gain. They were so much bigger and they were supposed to win.

"If we ever beat them, how could they ever live it down losing to a smaller school? If we got beat, so what?"

(Despite repeated attempts, Adkins was not available for comment.)

While Hentges was building a great program at Helias, just down the street, Adkins was building one of the best programs in the nation.

"They were a powerhouse back then, there's no question about it," Hentges said. "Just look at their record."

We will.

^ In the 1960s, before there was a postseason, the Jays put together the national-record winning streak and had seven undefeated seasons;

^ 1970s, three state championships and eight seasons of one or zero losses;

^ 1980s, two state championships and four straight unbeaten regular seasons to end the decade;

^ and the 1990s, five state championships, including four in Adkins' final five seasons. After Adkins' retirement in 1995, Ron Cole won the Jays' 10th --- and last --- state title in 1997 behind future NFL stars Justin Smith and Justin Gage.

In those four decades, the Jays were at their most vulnerable in the 1980-81 seasons, including Adkins' only losing year, 2-8 in 1980. That brought a thudding end to an impressive run for Jefferson City --- four straight trips to the state finals and three consecutive titles from 1976-78.

At that time --- and the timing was a coincident with the Jays' short-lived slump --- the Crusaders and Jays almost played.

"We had chance of playing each other when we were both looking for a conference," Hentges said. "But we ended up going to the NCMC (North Central Missouri Conference)."

"If that had not materialized, I think we would have formed a conference with Rolla and Waynesville and the Jays and us."

Pete retired with a stunning record of 354-48-2 in 37 years at Jefferson City. His overall win-total of 405 was fourth-best in the history of the sport at the time of his retirement.

"Pete just did a heck of a job and he had the numbers, he got the kids out," Hentges said. "I just don't think we would have been very competitive most years."

But that has changed. While the Jays would have been favored to win probably 90 percent of the time from 1960-2000, the roles have reversed the last 20 years --- the Crusaders would have been favored about 90 percent of the time.

Including this year.

"I would say we probably have a little more talent than they do this year," Hentges said. "But the Jays seem to be playing better and you never can tell, this is going to be and emotional game.

"The first meeting ever ... both teams are going to play with a lot of emotion."

It took a series of events to make this happen, and the most important was the first --- when the community passed a measure to fund a new public high school in Jefferson City. That dropped the Jays to Class 5 in football, just one class above the Crusaders.

Then, when the Central Missouri Activities Conference was formed last year, it included both JCHS and Helias, so it was only a matter of time.

After 60 years, the time has come.

Crusaders dismiss

Bruins in CMAC battle

of state-ranked teams

Wait is over : For first time Jays,
Crusaders will meet in football

Ray Hentges, longtime head football coach of the Helias Crusaders, never had the chance to play the school down the street, the Jefferson City Jays. That will finally change Friday night at Adkins Stadium and it doesn't look to be a coin-flip affair --- the Crusaders (6-0, No. 1 Class 4) would definitely be considered the favorites against the Jays (3-3).

Chris Leuckel