Chaffee football team falls at Malden

MALDEN, Mo. -- Chaffee stood on the doorstep of the end zone, less than a yard away from grabbing a two-score lead midway through the second quarter Friday.

It looked like such a promising drive, which covered 79 1/2 yards to that point.

It was that extra half-yard that proved elusive.

Two penalties then three sacks forced the Red Devils to punt from the Malden 45-yard line.

"That was our own fault," Chaffee senior Alex Davie said. "We stubbed our toe more than once. That's really inexcusable for us to be on the 1-yard line and have four shots at it and not score."

Even after the punt, Chaffee looked golden when the snap on second down bounced away from Green Wave quarterback Tanner Murphy. But he scooped up the bad snap and found a wide-open Chris Smith along the right sideline. Smith rumbled 60 yards to the Chaffee 24-yard line, and two Murphy runs resulted in a Malden touchdown.

"It's funny how when you're on the goal line, how much your enthusiasm and the mind of the game changes," Murphy said. "It's probably the biggest stop of the night. If they would of scored there, it probably would have changed the whole outcome of the night."

The score gave the Green Wave a 14-12 lead, which it never relinquished in a 49-25 win.

"You've got to make sure you put it in there when you're down there," Chaffee coach Charlie Vickery said. "We've just got to clean up the mistakes. We hurt ourselves."

Chaffee's offense consistently moved the ball, but the Red Devils' defense struggled to slow down the Green Wave's running attack. Murphy led the way with 152 yards and four touchdowns on 17 carries.

"They took away our passing," Murphy said. "Passing's kind of been our strong strength a little bit. But here lately teams have been taking our passing game away. Obviously that opens holes for running."

Running back Romello McCoy also topped 100 yards. The junior carried 15 times for 108 yards and two TDs.

"Tanner Murphy, he sells the fake so good, especially when they do that double spin and stuff," Chaffee linebacker/running back Tyson Estes said. "I just think they sell the fakes really good and they spread it around so much you never know who's going to get the ball."

Chaffee's offense matched the Green Wave through three quarters.

McCoy broke off a 66-yard touchdown 24 seconds into the third quarter for a 21-12 lead, but Chaffee responded with a 12-play drive that covered 59 yards. Estes found the end zone from 6 yards out to pull the Red Devils within two at 21-19.

But McCoy returned the kickoff 88 yards to pad the Green Wave's lead to 28-19.

The Red Devils didn't panic. Jordan Yahn got off a pass under pressure to Charlie Montgomery, who raced 55 yards for a score to cut the deficit to 28-25.

Malden responded by scoring the next three touchdowns to erase the suspense.

"We came out strong then we settled down a little bit," Murphy said. "We got it in our mind this was our homecoming. We can't let the fans down, so we got to do something."

Malden's final touchdown drive included some controversy. It lasted more than seven minutes of game time, more than 20 minutes elapsed time, a Chaffee interception that was nullified and five penalties.

It began when Malden recovered a fumbled snap at the Chaffee 42-yard line. The Green Wave worked down to the 27, where Murphy threw a pass over the middle on third-and-10. The intended receiver tipped the ball in the air and Chaffee caught it for an interception. But the officials whistled dead the play before Chaffee could return the interception and ruled it an incomplete pass. After the officials met, they decided to replay the down, which was the worst outcome for Chaffee.

Malden ended up converting the third down. The drive mercifully ended five plays and four penalties later when Murphy scored from a yard out.

Chaffee found great success through the air Friday. Yahn completed 12 of his 18 attempts for 230 yards and two scores.

"It's mainly Tyson who has been helping us," Yahn said. "He's opened up the passing game so much. We haven't passed it that much and they were mainly focused on Tyson. Any misdirection was throwing them off."

Estes, who averaged 160 yards over his last three games, rushed for 94 yards on 18 carries. But the threat of him breaking a big run helped loosen the Green Wave defense.

"Tyson has had a lot of success this year running the ball," Davie said. "I think teams are starting to pack it in inside the box and that's opening it up for the rest of us on the outside. We wouldn't be successful through the air if it wasn't for Tyson's success.

"Once we get a couple passes down the field and defenses realize we can complete a few passes, that will relieve the running game a little bit and open up the passing game. The running game has been our bread and butter."

Montgomery led the Red Devils receivers with four catches for 115 yards, while Davie added four receptions for 78 yards.

"You've got to have a passing game because they're going to bring people up, bring a lot of people in the box to stop the run," Vickery said. "They did a good job of that, and we didn't do as good a job as we have to of picking up the blitzing linebacker."

Vickery said Yahn, a three-year starter at quarterback, has shown great improvement throwing the ball this season.

"It's a lot better," Vickery said. "We just have to give him a little more time."

The Red Devils host St. Vincent to open Class 1 District 2 play. Chaffee defeated the Indians last season on their way to qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 1983.

Scoring Summary

Chaffee 12 0 13 0 -- 25

Malden 7 7 21 14 -- 49

First Quarter

M -- Tanner Murphy 11 run (Garrett Potts kick), 7:57

C -- Alex Davie 56 pass from Jordan Yahn (kick fail), 6:30

C -- Yahn 15 run (pass fail), 4:16

Second Quarter

M -- Murphy 1 run (Potts kick), 3:09

Third Quarter

M -- Romello McCoy 66 run (Potts kick), 11:36

C -- Tyson Estes 6 run (Yahn kick), 5:24

M -- McCoy 88 kickoff return (Potts kick), 5:09

C -- Charlie Montgomery 55 pass from Yahn (pass fail), 3:35

M -- Murphy 10 run (Potts kick), 1:01

Fourth Quarter

M -- McCoy 9 run (Potts kick), 8:55

M -- Murphy 1 run (Potts kick), 1:18

Team Statistics

First downs (Chaffee-Malden) 14 15

Rushes-yards 35-100 35-298

Passing yards 230 91

Passes 12-19-0 5-7-0

Punts 3-78 1-43

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 3-1

Penalties-Yards 8-72 10-86

Individual Statistics

RUSHING -- Chaffee, Charlie Montgomery 2-15, Jordan Yahn 12-(-18), Tyson Estes 18-94, Team 1-(-1), Jimmy Golden 2-10. Malden, Romello McCoy 15-108, Tanner Murphy 17-152, Jonsha Robinson 1-12, Malik Perkins 1-18, Team 1-(-1).

PASSING -- Chaffee, Jordan Yahn 12-18-230-0, Zach Dannenmueller 0-1-0-0. Malden, Tanner Murphy 5-7-91-0.

RECEIVING -- Chaffee, Alex Davie 4-78, Charlie Montgomery 4-115, Jimmy Golden 1-2, Zach Dannenmueller 3-33. Malden, Malik Perkins 3-20, Dajuan Crigler 1-11, Chris Smith 1-60.