The Helias Crusaders checked a lot of boxes this football season. They won the city championship for the fourth consecutive season, captured the Central Missouri Activities Conference crown for a third time and won a district title for the first time in three tries in Class 5 to advance into the state bracket.
Once again, the Capital City Cavaliers are set to play the biggest game in program history. The Cavaliers are set to face a rematch against the Helias Crusaders in Capital City’s first district championship game in the four-year history of the program. “We’re trending toward the right direction,” Capital City coach Joe Collier said. “The things that we’re doing in the offseason, in the season, the corrections and tweaks we’re trying to make during games during the season, this is the path we should be on.”
The 2020 edition of the Helias Crusaders had a championship-quality defense. There’s a Class 4 state title banner hanging in Rackers Fieldhouse to prove it. The 2023 edition of the Crusaders did them one better. Actually, seven better. The Helias defense posted its second shutout of the season Friday night as the Crusaders wrapped up an undefeated Central Missouri Activities Conference campaign with a 63-0 victory against the Sedalia Smith-Cotton Tigers.
The Jefferson City Jays enter tonight’s matchup on a three-game winning streak, but their biggest challenge of the season awaits. The Jays will travel down Stadium Boulevard tonight to take on the Helias Crusaders, looking for their first win in the series in just the fourth game between the two sides despite the long histories of the programs.
The Capital City Cavaliers are looking for a bounce back. The Cavaliers have dropped two consecutive games for the first times since the 2021 season and will look to get back in the win column when they go up Stadium Boulevard once again, this time to play the Helias Crusaders in a CMAC matchup at 7 p.m. today.