51ºÚÁÏ

"I wanted them to focus," Cruz said. "Coming into this there was a lot of noise on the inside, a lot of noise on the outside."

Junior Billikens senior wideout and defensive back Keenan Harris broke that rule.

Sort of.

Harris, who has committed to the University of Missouri, watched in pre-game warmups as Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz arrived to watch his prize recruit via helicopter.

"I saw him and gave him a little wink," Harris said. "Since he went to the trouble to get here, I knew I had to show out for him."

The 6-foot-2-inch, 207-pound all-purpose standout did just that.

Harris scored three touchdowns and the Junior Bills defense took charge in the second half on the way to a 31-14 win in the much-anticipated contest off Ballas Road.

SLUH (3-0 overall, 1-0 MCC) snapped a nine-game losing streak to De Smet (1-2, 0-1). The Junior Bills' last win in the series was a 28-24 triumph on Sept. 8, 2017.

The rivals put on a show for a standing room only crowd of 2,100 on Jesuits vs. Cancer night.

Senior running back Jordan Taylor ran for 162 yards on 30 carries yards to lead the winning attack. Quarterback Kyren Eleby engineered a pair of lengthy first-half drives that set the tone for the remainder of the game.

The SLUH defense held the Spartans scoreless on a pair of second-half drives inside the 6-yard line.

"A perfect game on a perfect night," Taylor said.

This was a long-awaited triumph for the Junior Billikens, who lost the last nine games in the series by an average of 27.2 points per contest. Only one of the games was decided by single-digits, with six of the De Smet wins coming by 20 points or more.

"This feels amazing," Harris said. "We knew by the way we were practicing during the week that we'd be able to do our thing. The thought was just come out and handle our business.

"And that's just what we did."

Harris, who ran for 95 yards on 15 carries, scored all three of his touchdowns out of the Wildcat formation. He simply took the snap from center and busted up the middle on scoring runs of 18, 5 and 9 yards.

He said the play has a special name.

"Just call it money," Harris said.

The SLUH defense bent but did not break down the stretch. Senior Kendall McNutt, who is bound for Kent State, came up with a huge interception in the third quarter with his team nursing a 17-14 lead.

"I promised my coach that I'd get a pick," McNutt said. "I got a good drop, kept my eyes on the ball and made the play."

The interception helped flip the momentum. Harris scored six plays later for a 24-14 lead.

De Smet immediately moved downfield and got inside SLUH's 6, thanks to the running of Cam Sharp.

But SLUH stopped the hosts on four successive plays to take over at the 8.

"That's a whole different game if we scored touchdowns," De Smet coach John Merritt said. "We got outplayed tonight, got a little outcoached tonight. But we sure didn't give up."

De Smet's second trip to the red zone resulted in a missed field with 7:03 left in the contest.

SLUH took advantage and marched 92 yards in nine plays to put the game away. Harris smashed in from 9 yards out with 3:12 left to end the scoring.

"We came out confident," Harris said. "We knew the type of team we had. We've been talking about doing this all off-season and now we've done it."

SLUH jumped to a 14-0 lead on a pair of nifty 12- and 13-play drives over the first 12:33.

De Smet battled back to tie on an 11-yard scoring run by Sharp and a 4-yard flea-flicker pass from Gabe Rodriguez to Wyatt Stoltz with 92 seconds left in the opening half.

Junior Billikens kicker Patrick Mortland put his team ahead to stay with a 32-yard field goal as the first half ended.

The teams could meet again in district play.

But for now, the Junior Billikens are riding high following the statement victory.

"This doesn't mean that much if we don't keep on winning," Taylor said. "But we feel good now and we'll be ready for whatever comes up next."