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Helias senior running back Alex Clement (5) and the Crusaders will meet MICDS for the Class 4 state championship at 7 p.m. Friday at Adkins Stadium.

Helias looks to make forgettable
2020 a forever memorable year

Dec. 3, 2020

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. --- Every season has its own personality and questions, it always progresses in different ways.

This season and the questions posed were different beyond anyone's wildest imagination--- prior to 2020, that is.

Starting back in June, Chris Hentges pondered: " 'Are we going to have a season?'" the Helias head coach said. "'Really, the question was: 'Are we even going to be able to practice?'"

After no spring activities because of Covid, the team was able to get together June 1 for weightlifting with the imposed social distancing. By mid-June, the Crusaders got outside for football-related activities, but still had to maintain the six-foot circle.

It's difficult to block or tackle when you're six feet from the other guy.

"By July," Hentges said, "we were able to do some things that kinda looked like football. But it was definitely a slow progression."

Then came mid-August, the start of practice and the eve of the season.

"What was the virus going to do? Nobody knew," Hentges said. "We really didn't know what was going to happen week to week, day to day, we just tried to control the things that were within our sphere of influence.

"We kept believing there would be a next week ... we didn't do anything but focus on the here and now."

Hentges continued.

"As the season got going into September and October, we felt pretty good that we were going to finish this thing, meaning Covid was not going to derail us," he said. "Now we're in early December and barring anything crazy, we're going to get this thing done."

Indeed. And through it all, the Crusaders have prevailed and are one of two Class 4 teams still standing, as top-ranked Helias (13-0) will meet the MICDS Rams (7-0) for the state championship at 7 p.m. Friday at Adkins Stadium.

In a year full of surprises, this is not one of them, Helias being in this game. Especially this year, since Helias returned such a wealth of senior talent.

"We knew we had some good players," Hentges said, "and that we had a lot of experience coming back, a lot of maturity. I think that helped us a lot.

"I'm not saying other teams got distracted or lacked focus, but I think we had a significant edge because of our experience."

That gave them the jump on almost every other team in the state --- especially teams like MICDS, as St. Louis-area teams didn't even play a game the first five weeks.

"We were able to hit the ground running and our guys had a lot of retention," Hentges said. "We're blessed at Helias. We don't always have the blue-chip athlete, but we have a lot of smart, hard-working kids and their retention is pretty high.

"I think it gave us an edge early in the season and then our kids just kept working, week in and week out."

And here they are.

"I think all of us felt we had the talent to be here, to be in the state championship game," Hentges said. "It's really nice to see that fulfilled.

One to go.

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ONE OF THE KEYS TO BEING in Friday night's game came the last two weeks. Helias almost lost.

That's not a bad thing.

In their first 11 games, the Crusaders had an average margin of victory of 30 ppg. The last two games? 4.5.

While MICDS was running over Union 56-20 in the semifinals, the Crusaders were able to score a late touchdown to eke out a 13-10 win over Smithville.

In the quarterfinals, Helias built a big lead and then held on by the tips of their fingernails to edge West Plains, 36-30.

"I've always thought we had a mentally-tough team, their toughness and resolve were never questioned," Hentges said. "But we hadn't been put in that situation, so it's good to be battle-tested like that.

"It showed we can hold off a charge that West Plains gave us, and we can come-from-behind like we did against Smithville."

Beating West Plains was a sigh of relief; rallying past Smithville was exhilarating.

Three plays stood out.

^ A 63-yard touchdown pass from senior Jake Weaver to junior Cole Stumpe to get Helias within 7-6 late in the third quarter;

^ Senior linebacker Isaac Lopez's game- and season-saving tackle on 4th-and-2 at the Helias 20 with two minutes left and the Crusaders trailing 10-6. "If he doesn't make that stop," Hentges said, "the game is over because we were out of timeouts.";

^ and a good catch and great run by senior Alex Clement on the ensuing drive, when he broke two tackles and raced 54 yards to the Smithville 15 to set up his game-winning touchdown.

"Your playmakers have to make plays," Hentges said, "and they did."

And they did just in time. But this was certainly a different-looking game for the Crusaders --- the team that was averaging 43 ppg. scored zero in the first half, and only had 54 total yards.

Which leads to this week.

"From an offensive standpoint," Hentges said, "I think it's going to be really important for us to get off to a good, positive start, because we struggled last week.

"Going back and looking at the tape, it was just one break down here, one break down there. It was the just the little things that were stopping us every play. Give credit to Smithville, but we have to execute better.

"Our defense is going to come out and be ready to play, I believe in our defense. Will (MICDS) be a challenge to us? Yes, I think they're going to be the greatest challenge we've seen all year. But I think our defense will rise to the challenge."

The top offensive threats for the Rams are both underclassmen.

Junior quarterback Reagan Andrew has thrown for 1,234 yards and 13 touchdowns with only one interception, and he's rushed for 10 touchdowns; sophomore running back Steven Hall has also scored 10 times and leads the team in rushing for 825 yards (8.4 avg.) 

Remember, those totals are in seven games.

The most recognizable name in the MICDS arsenal would be the head coach, Fred Bouchard. The veteran coach is tied for seventh in Missouri state history with five state championships, four at Harrisonville (2003, 05-07) and one at Staley (2011).

This is Bouchard's first year with the Rams.

"He's a great coach and has a great legacy everywhere he's gone," Hentges said. "You can see the dramatic improvement his team has made from Week 1 to Week 7, they're playing their best football right now.

"We're going to have our hands full."

The trip to Smithville in the Kansas City area was the first road trip the Crusaders have taken all season. One trip to Columbia doesn't count.

The other 12 games? All in Jefferson City, this is third at Adkins Stadium.

"That's remarkable, that will never happen again," Hentges said.

Sooner or later, the Crusaders winning a state football championship will happen again. This is the program's ninth trip to the title game, the first since 2013, and the Crusaders are seeking their third championship, their first since 1998 in what was Ray Hentges' final game. Helias has finished second times five times since.

Chris Leuckel