If you want to show off your new home, you might as well do it right.
The Helias Crusaders will open the 2017 season and Ray Hentges Stadium tonight by hosting the rival Hannibal Pirates.
"It's a cool way to start this off," Helias coach Tim Rulo said. "Would it be nice to start off with a powder puff, somebody we should beat? Yes. But this is great."
The Crusaders and Pirates are long-time rivals, dating back through their days together in the North Central Missouri Conference. And for the past decade or so, the two have often battled for district championship honors to add a little more spice to their meetings.
"These are the type of games Helias fans love and you're playing a team you've been playing for a lot of years," Rulo said. "It should be one heck of a night."
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AS RULO ENTERS his third season as head coach at Helias, he wanted to take a look back to see how much progress the Crusaders have made in his tenure.
"I pulled up our first Jamboree, I wanted to see how we looked," Rulo said.
Helias had been running a spread offense for many years before Rulo took over and installed a more run-oriented attack. When he watched the video of the first action from that first season, the Crusaders looked, well, a little confused. Which is what you would expect from a team running a new offensive scheme.
"There were a lot of little things," Rulo said. "You could tell with the footwork, the alignments at times."
But flash forward to last week's Jamboree.
"It was a total 180," Rulo said. "Sure, there were a few too many penalties, but we were running things the correct way, making the right decisions and doing some really neat things.
"You can really see we are getting comfortable with it."
Not that things are perfect.
"There's a lot more development we can do," Rulo said.
For the second straight season, the Crusaders had a battle in preseason camp between a quarterback more suited to the run game and one with a better thrower.
"You'd really love to have that combination in just one guy," Rulo said. "But you'd much rather have to make a choice between two guys rather than not have one at all.
"It's just a matter of when one or the other is in the game, you have to tailor what you're doing to their strengths."
In the end, the decision was made to start the runner - junior Daniel Rhea. Rhea, who had one pass attempt and one rush last season, had a pair of long runs for touchdowns to account for Helias' points in the Jamboree.
"Daniel is so athletic," Rulo said. "He's so quick, has a really good burst."
But Rulo wasn't shy about putting the ball in the air last Friday, throwing the ball 11 times.
"I wanted to see what our quarterbacks could do in a game situation, see what kind of throws they could make," Rulo said.
He was impressed with what he saw from senior Connor McKenna.
"Connor had a couple of good ones, that's for sure," Rulo said. "They were money balls, right where we wanted them."
Blake Veltrop is Helias' leading returning rusher, picking up 380 yards (7.2 avg.). The junior rushed for seven touchdowns.
"He came on strong at the end of the year, he really asserted himself, especially in the last couple of games," Rulo said.
The Crusaders used several players at running back in the Jamboree. Also figuring to see time this season at the position are senior Jeremiah Heckman and juniors Nate Distler and Andrew Bexten.
Blake Savage, a senior, and junior Colden Imhoff will be the main players at fullback, Savage averaged 6.3 yards per carry in limited time last year, while Imhoff totaled six carries. Others in the mix include junior transfer Michael Stroesser and sophomore Brody Mays.
Helias ran for a school-record 3,830 yards last season and the ground attack will be the point of emphasis again this year.
"It's all about play efficiency," Rulo said. "If we're averaging 4.5 yards per carry, that means if we run certain plays three times in a row, that's a first down.
"But we we throw an incompletion, that puts us in a long yardage situation. We want to throw the ball, but we want to do it with high-percentage throws and that's the challenge."
The Crusaders attempted an uncharacteristically high 11 passes in the Jamboree.
"I wanted to see what our quarterbacks could do in a game situation, see what kind of throws they could make," Rulo said. "Connor had a couple of good ones, that's for sure. They were money balls, right where we wanted them."
Nathan Bax, who has orally committed to Illinois State, is Helias' leading returning receiver. He caught just six passes in 2016, but they went for 183 yards and four touchdowns.
"We had some receivers that could make plays last season," Rulo said. "Nathan did a great job of playing defense, that was his focal point. On offense, he was part of a receiving rotation."
John Paden, a senior, is the only other returning Crusader with a catch. He had one last year.
"It's a matter of seeing what routes work best for each receiver, we're trying to get them into situations where they can be successful," Rulo said.
Helias returns two starters on the offensive line in senior guards Matthew Witt and Kyle Feltrop. They will sandwich junior center Jim Donovan in a trio that averages a little more than 260 pounds.
"Those three guys are the typical size of what you're looking for in an offensive lineman," Rulo said.
The Crusaders will be smaller at the tackle spots with senior Collin Jaegers and junior Zach Vanderfeltz.
"We've gone from guys between 250-260 pounds to guys right around 200," Rulo said.
But size doesn't always matter in Helias' offensive scheme up front.
"We knew there weren't a lot of big linemen in our system and that's one good reason to run the option," Rulo said. "We're not asking these guys to just set up a base and block, they can move."
Rulo believes the potential is there for the group to have a good season.
"They are super when it comes to the technical stuff and they have great motors," Rulo said. "That's why they can be successful as a unit."
Among the backups on the line are seniors Austin Phillips and Kilian Ulrich, and junior Teddy Chen.
The Crusaders averaged 38.6 points per game last season. They're looking to do that - or better - this season.
"I believe we can, it's going to be a matter of being consistent in effort and execution," Rulo said. "A lot of that falls on us as coaches, to get them to believe and go out and perform.
"After the first three weeks last year, I never would have thought we'd have done it. And I think we look very similar right now to where we were at this time last year."
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ONE NUMBER THE Crusaders are looking to reduce is points allowed after giving up 24.6 points per game in 2016.
"The potential is there for this to be a very good defense," Rulo said. "We have a lot of position battles between juniors and seniors, which means they are pushing each other to get better for playing time. And that will help us in the future."
The strength of the defense should be up front, led by the duo of Bax and Vanderfeltz on the ends.
"Those are two guys with high motors who are doing things technically sound," Rulo said.
Bax was a nightmare for opposing offenses last season, finishing with 13 tackles for loss and three sacks. Vanderfeltz averaged two stops per game in limited action.
The Crusaders plan to use a rotation of Witt, Feltrop, Donovan and Phillips at the tackle spots.
The linebackers will be led by senior Garrett Mingucci.
"I was very impressed with Garrett at the Jamboree," Rulo said. "He really got downhill and made some tackles."
Savage, Chen and Strosser are among the Crusaders slotted to play inside at linebacker. Among the outside linebackers are Imhoff, Veltrop and freshman Jacob Weaver.
Heckman will get the nod at rover, while junior Adam Wilbers and Woehr will start at the corners. Rhea will start at free safety.
Rulo isn't concerned about his starting quarterback playing defense.
"If you are needed at at that position, then you are going to play," Rulo said. "Daniel has the ability to play that position, we will get him some time off with some good guys behind him. But Daniel right now is our best option to start at that position."
Among the reserves in the secondary are juniors Austin Radmacher and Ethan Johnson.
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VITO CALVARUSO RETURNS returns at kicker after converting 18-of-20 extra points and 1-of-2 field goals in limited action as a freshman.
"Vito's been through it, he knows what it takes to be a kicker at the varsity level," Rulo said.
Carson Stieferman will serve as the punter.
Ryan Watson, a senior, and freshman Damon Johanns will be the reserves in the kicking game.
"We have plenty of guys," Rulo said.
Conrad Wildhaber will handle the snapping duties in the kicking game, while Rhea and Dylan Weaver will be among the holders.