Chaffee collects first football victory since start of 2009 season

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Chaffee coach Charlie Vickery has been requesting four quarters from his team all season, and it wasn't for the soda machine.

The Red Devils finally brought the change their coach had been looking for.

Chaffee assembled four quarters against Festus St. Pius and found that change was good enough for its first victory since the start of the 2009 season.

With senior receiver Mike Rutherford pulling in two touchdown catches and Tyson Estes returning a fumble 49 yards for a score, Chaffee broke an 11-game losing streak with a 20-6 victory.

"We're tired of losing," Estes said. "The losing streak is over."

Chaffee's Mike Rutherford is pursued by St. Pius' Luke Rumping as Rutherford scurries for the end zone during the second quarter Friday at Chaffee High School.

Chaffee had shown signs of life a week earlier in a 42-0 loss to Hayti, a game it trailed just 8-0 at halftime.

"We just have to get some momentum and enthusiasm, and I think that happened tonight," Vickery said. "I noticed during the first half last week we had that and things went bad, and it was like, 'Here we go again.' And this week we were able to maintain it for four quarters. That was a win we need badly."

The Red Devils were outgained by more than 100 yards but forced three turnovers and stopped the Warriors four times on fourth-down plays.

"I don't know if I'm going to sleep tonight. I'll be up a while," said Chaffee linebacker Trevor Cannon, who recovered a fumble, broke up a fourth-down pass and put a vicious hit on a Warriors punt returner who had to be helped off the field -- all in the second half. "I honestly don't think anybody expected us to get a win, and that's what just makes it all the better."

St. Pius (1-3) held a distinct size advantage on the lines and took the game's opening kickoff and pushed the Red Devils' defense down the field before stalling at the Chaffee 25. The Warriors, who rushed 46 times for 192 yards, picked up only one first down on their next four drives.

Chaffee's Tyson Estes gets away from St. Pius' Evan Temperato during the second quarter Friday at Chaffee High School. (Fred Lynch)

"We haven't handled adversity real well, and tonight I think we handled it real good," Cannon said.

The Red Devils, who improved to 1-3, had scored just six points in their first three games.

They equaled that total when they took their first lead of the season in the final minute of the first half.

Rutherford got his hands under a wide receiver screen pass just before it hit the grass along the left sideline on a third-and-7 play at the St. Pius 49, turned upfield and went untouched down the sideline with 52 seconds left in the half.

"It wasn't all me man, did you see the blocking on that play? Beautiful blocking," Rutherford said.

Rutherford was provided a clear path to the end zone when receivers Zach Dannenmueller and Charlie Montgomery threw blocks that sealed off the defense.

"That was just a little screen pass," Chaffee quarterback Jordan Yahn said. "I thought it was going to be about a 5-yard gain, and when he broke it, I was pretty excited. Whenever we got that, it kind of boosted our spirits and kind of led us on to more good plays."

"That was huge," Vickery said. "Especially since we've had so much trouble scoring."

Chaffee, which had just 34 yards rushing on 30 attempts, assembled its best drive of the night on its second possession of the second half. Yahn completed six passes for 62 yards on the drive, while three running plays lost 5 yards. The Red Devils scored on fourth down from the Warriors' 6 when Rutherford went above a St. Pius defender to corral the pass in the end zone. The 2-point conversion pass failed, but Chaffee led 12-0 with 3:52 left in the third quarter.

The teams exchanged turnovers, with St. Pius ultimately taking possession at its own 39 after intercepting Chaffee freshman quarterback Cody Payne, who replaced Yahn for two plays. Estes sacked quarterback Will Basler for a 6-yard loss on third-and-1, but the junior linebacker was whistled for a personal foul after the play for taunting. What looked like a key defensive stop resulted in a first down at the Chaffee 43.

"My team, they just pumped me back up," Estes said. "Trevor Cannon, the other middle linebacker, he just pumped me up and said I have to make up for it."

Estes did.

St. Pius mishandled a pitch in the backfield two plays later and Estes scooped up the ball at the St. Pius 46 and outraced several Warriors to the end zone.

"I picked it up and I just felt like I was flying, that nobody could catch me," Estes said. "It felt pretty good because of what happened, and I made up for it. It was really good for me, especially with our first win and everything."

Payne found Rutherford in the end zone on the conversion pass for a 20-0 lead with 22 seconds left in the third quarter.

St. Pius put together a 71-yard scoring drive on its next possession, but Chaffee countered with a 10-play drive that took more than five minutes, leaving less than three minutes on the clock. It was not enough time for the ground-oriented attack of St. Pius.

Evan Temperato led the Warriors with 72 yards rushing on 13 carries.

"I think this is probably the season-changer right here," said Yahn, who completed 12 of 18 passes for 156 yards. "This might be the game here that helps us get some more wins under us before districts."

Rutherford finished with four catches for 61 yards, while Dannenmueller had four for 50 yards.

"We played our butts off today," Rutherford said. "This won't be our last win either."

Chaffee returns to action Friday at rival Scott City.

St. Pius 0 0 0 6 -- 6

Chaffee 0 6 14 0 -- 20

Second Quarter

C -- Mike Rutherford 49 pass from Jordan Yahn (pass fails), :52

Third Quarter

C -- Mike Rutherford 6 pass from Yahn (pass fails), 3:52

C -- Tyson Estes 46 fumble return (Cody Payne pass to Rutherford), :22

SP C

First downs 15 9

Rushes-yards 46-192 30-34

Passing yards 122 156

Passes 9-15-1 12-20-1

Punts 2-31 4-27.3

Fumbles-Lost 4-2 1-0

Penalties-Yards 7-56 7-60

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- St. Pius, Evan Temperato 13-72, Luke Linderer 12-50, Charlie Argana 12-47, Will Basler 5-6, Nick Earley 2-9, Talon Cook 1-8; Chaffee, Cody Enderle 5-2, Tyson Estes 7-5, Dustin Worley 2-2, Yahn 16-17, Trevor Cannon 2-6

PASSING -- St. Pius, Basler 9-15-122-1; Chaffee, Yahn 12-18-156-0, Payne 0-2-0-1

RECEIVING -- St. Pius, Linderer 2-45, Clint Coughlin 3-35, Temperato 2-20, Cook 2-22; Chaffee, Rutherford 4-61, Zach Dannenmueller 4-50, Charlie Montgomery 1-18, Alex Davie 1-15, Andrew Terhune 2-12.