SportsZone Football Friday Game of the Week Preview: Helias at Battle

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia and Jefferson City collide in Week 3 of SportsZone Football Friday.

Battle (0-2) is preparing to host Helias (2-0) on its home turf, highlighting one of three Central Missouri Activities Conference (CMAC) showdowns between Columbia and Jefferson City high schools on Friday night.

The Spartans and Crusaders are our SportsZone Football Friday Game of the Week. You can watch the game live over the air channel 17.3 on KZOU. Here is a look at other local listings:

• DirecTV - Channel 18
• Dish Network - Channel 32
• Mediacom - Channel 12 & 709
• Centurylink - Channel 12
• Spectrum - Channel 183

Entering Friday's game, Battle is still seeking its first win under first-year head coach Shawn Gaines. The Spartans suffered losses in their first two games of the 2025 season, including a 56-0 defeat against Capital City in their most recent outing. Despite some lopsided scores, Gaines has witnessed his team improve since the start of the season.

"We're definitely making strides in the right direction. I know that the scoreboard doesn't really reflect that right now, but we're definitely getting better," Gaines said. "Our defense is definitely a ton better. It was a 31-point game at half [against Capital City], and I think the farthest drive that they had was from our 40-yard line. We constantly had short fields, but we were able to hold them to a couple field goals. These guys are definitely stepping up to the challenge and doing what they can with what they got."

However, Helias is undefeated through its first two games of the regular season for a fourth consecutive year. After narrowly defeating Hannibal in Week 1, the Crusaders cruised to victory over Hickman in their next outing, beating the Kewpies by 35 points. Helias is vying for a second straight trip to the state championship stage, but head coach Chris Hentges is challenging his team to avoid complacency in order to achieve that mission.

"We're still a team that I think has some potential but a team that still has a lot of improvements still to make, especially on the offensive and defensive line," Hentges said. "I saw improvement between Weeks 1 and 2, but I know we still have a ways to go."

Friday's showdown represents the second of seven straight weeks of CMAC opponents for both Battle and Helias. While the Spartans and Crusaders currently stand on opposite ends of the league standings, both schools are embracing a similar mindset at practice to prepare themselves to make a run at a championship.

"Champions love the work. Pretenders like the idea of it," Gaines said. "All of this hard work is going to pay off. The light is getting closer. We're close to the end of the tunnel, but we just got to keep working and got to keep pushing towards the goal that we're trying to achieve, which is to win some football games and put ourselves in position to compete for a district championship."

"Every high school coach wants to win a state championship, and that's the dream of every football player, too. But, it's not looking ahead too much and also not looking back too much, being in the moment each and every week, making sure that you do what you need to do as a player and as a coach to put your team and to put your teammates in a position where they can succeed," Hentges said. "That's having a good practice each and every day, doing the little things, watching film, making sure you're taking care of yourself, diet, nutrition, all those things that are important."

Although Coach Gaines has yet to face the Crusaders as Battle's head coach, he is still very familiar with their program. Gaines previously served as an assistant football coach at Hannibal High School, a program that has forged a rivalry with Helias over the last five seasons.

"At Hannibal, we always looked at [Helias] as the benchmark. They are the decider on if we had a good summer," Gaines said. "They are top-of-the-top in the state. One of the premier programs in the state of Missouri. It's a good measuring stick for what your season is going to look like or what your season can look like based on how you perform."

"Hannibal had a lot of success against us, both offensively and defensively, so I can see [Coach Gaines] maybe trying to mimic a lot of those things that were done in Week 1 by Hannibal," Hentges said. "He's playing several freshmen, which I'm just amazed at. These are good players. So, I think the future looks really bright for Battle. I think he's got a lot of good young talent, but like any coach, for the first year, he's just trying to establish himself. I saw a major improvement between the way his team played in Week 1 and Week 2. They've got athletes, they've got speed, they've got size and they've got our attention. We never take anyone lightly. We're going to be focused. We're going to be ready."

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Battle High School.