CANTS NEARLY ENERGED FROM THE VALLE

It was a loss as tough to swallow as a whole, uncooked dinner potato.

Fredericktown, which has not beaten Ste. Genevieve Valle since 1979, squandered a 27-6 third quarter lead and lost to Valle 28-27 Friday night.

Fredericktown, which has not beaten Valle since 1979, led 27-6 in the third quarter and 27-13 going into the fourth quarter.

"As far as that's concerned, I still haven't quit shaking my head," Fredericktown coach Kent Gibbs said Saturday. "You have a chance to beat a team you haven't beaten in 20 years. All you have to do is deliver the knockout blow."

Instead, the Black Cats were split-decisioned. They owned the early portion of the game, scoring on touchdown passes of 56, 40 and 41 yards from Luke McKinnis to Derek Smith, Rusty Leonard and Scotty Stevens.

"We were kind of judicious in how we threw," Gibbs said. "But we threw more on first down than usual. That probably crossed them up a little."

But after Jeremy Penwell (19 rushes for 135 yards) ran for a 57-yard touchdown in the third quarter, the big plays went Valle's way.

A 70-yard touchdown pass made it 27-21, and minutes later, Penwell put the Black Cats in scoring position with a 30-yard run, only to have it called back on a head-slap penalty away from the play.

In the final minutes of play, Valle faced a fourth-and-8 from Fredericktown's 16-yard line. They converted, on a pass thrown as the quarterback was being tackled, and scored the game-winning touchdown three plays later.

It was a tough loss.

"I can remember looking at the clock (when Fredericktown led 27-6)" Gibbs said. "And I thought, `boy, there's a lot of time left.'"

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Scott City allowed Chaffee only 30 yards of total offense last year, a tough number to improve upon.

The Rams did it Friday night, however, holding the Red Devils to minus-10 yards.

Chaffee lost 22 yards rushing and gained 12 yards passing.

In their last 120 minutes of football against Scott City, the Red Devils' offense has moved the ball 20 yards.

"We've held them close (to zero) before, but we've never gotten a negative total combined," Scott City coach Terry Flanigan said. "All of our defensive players deserve a pat on the back."

Inside linebacker Steven Thomas led Scott City (1-4) with nine tackles, including six first hits, three assists and two tackles for a loss. He also broke up a pass.

Linebacker Jeremy Mouser, defensive ends John Wipfler and Brandon Delrosa, and defensive back David Enderle were other standouts for the Rams.

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It is difficult to run an option offense, and downright impossible with the starting quarterback and fullback on the bench with injuries.

Charleston found out how hard it was Friday night, losing to Malden 28-6.

Already missing fullback Kevin Brown (torn ACL), the Blue Jays had to go without quarterback Jason Ward after he twisted his ankle in the first quarter.

Junior varsity quarterback Boothe Dugan relieved Ward and played well, but Charleston was forced to abandon its option offense.

The Blue Jays also had three starters sick with the flu.

"I thought the kids played up to what they could," Charleston coach Dan Kesselring said. "It could have been worse."