Chaffee runs over St. Vincent 40-10

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Football often is called a game of inches.

In Chaffee's Class 1 District 2 opener at St. Vincent High School, it was a matter of feet.

The Red Devils mustered just 24 yards rushing on 13 attempts in the first half, then got some advice from Chaffee coach Charlie Vickery at halftime.

"We came out the first half and we weren't really blocking that well," Chaffee junior running back Tyson Estes said. "We made initial contact but we weren't running our feet. Coach just told our linemen to stick with their blocks and just keep your feet moving, and it worked. The second half we came out a different ball team."

The linemen weren't the only ones moving their feet. Estes moved his feet to the tune of 191 yards in the second half, finding the end zone four times as a transformed Chaffee team turned a four-point halftime lead into a 40-10 rout.

Chaffee's Tyson Estes maneuvers around St. Vincent's Justin Breig during the third quarter Friday in Perryville, Mo. Chaffee defeated St. Vincent 40-10. (Kristin Eberts)

The victory puts Chaffee (3-5) on course to make its first playoff appearance since winning the Class 1A state championship in 1983.

"We haven't been to the playoffs in 27 years, and we really want to make it," said senior cornerback Jason Cicardi, who had three interceptions and scored on a muffed punt. "Since we won state in '83, we haven't been there. That's been our goal all season -- make the playoffs."

Chaffee, which has struggled to run the ball most of the season and has not had a 100-yard rusher, saw Estes jitterbug and sprint his way to a career-high 210 yards on 31 carries.

"I give all the credit to my O-line, all my blockers," Estes said. "They gave me an opportunity to make things happen."

Estes, who had just 19 yards on 11 carries in the first half, scored on runs of 22, 8, 15 and 30 yards in the second half. He had 129 yards on 15 carries in the third quarter alone. Chaffee scored on all three of its possessions in the quarter to turn a 7-3 halftime lead into a 26-3 advantage.

St. Vincent's Derek Joggerst dives into the end zone over Chaffee's Charlie Montgomery during the third quarter Friday in Perryville, Mo. A holding penalty wiped away the touchdown. (Kristin Eberts)

"The first half they did a good job. We weren't able to get any kind of running game going," Vickery said. "I was like, well we're going to have to stick with it because we felt we had to run the ball. We didn't change anything. The line got off the ball much better, the fullback [Trevor] Cannon blocked real well, and of course, Tyson ran the ball really well."

Chaffee had just 51 yards of offense in the first half but held the lead due to a strong defensive effort led by Cicardi, who had two of his interceptions in the half. Cicardi, who came into the game with two interceptions, provided the bulk of the Red Devils' five interceptions.

"No. No. Never in my life," Cicardi said when asked if he's ever had such a game before.

Cicardi was a factor from the game's first play from scrimmage when he intercepted St. Vincent quarterback Taylor Sauer on an attempted home run pass over the top to Ryan Boxdorfer.

Cicardi snared his second interception near the goal line on the first play of the second quarter when he snuffed out a St. Vincent drive that reached the Chaffee 7.

St. Vincent's Ryan Boxdorfer hauls in a pass while getting tackled by Chaffee's Jason Cicardi during the third quarter Friday.

"I was in the right place at the right time," Cicardi said.

He found the right spot again on St. Vincent's next possession, which ended in a muffed punt.

Indians punter Sean Martin had to short-hop the snap in his own end zone and rolled to his left as he attempted to kick with his left foot while under pressure from the defense. The ball was popped up and landed in the arms of Cicardi near the goal line, and he pushed his way across for the game's first points. Jordan Yahn added the extra point for a 7-0 lead with 7 minutes, 27 seconds left in the first half.

St. Vincent (2-6) ventured inside the Chaffee 10 on its next possession but settled for a 25-yard field goal by Phillip Ernst.

"It was another night of missed opportunities, especially in the first half," St. Vincent coach Paul Sauer said. "That's kind of been our trend this season."

Chaffee opened the second half with a nine-play drive that covered 76 yards. The Red Devils surpassed their first-half offensive output as they handed off the ball to Estes on seven of the plays. He surpassed his 19-yard first half total on his first carry when he went over the right side for a 23-yard gain. Estes had 70 yards on the drive, which was capped with a 3-yard pass from Yahn to Alex Davie for a 13-3 lead with 8:51 left in the third quarter.

"Once we got that big drive, it really seemed to get the momentum going," Vickery said.

St. Vincent's next series ended with a blocked field-goal attempt, and Chaffee needed just six plays to cover 60 yards. The drive was launched by a leaping 26-yard reception by Mike Rutherford along the left sideline and capped by a 22-yard run by Estes for a 19-3 lead.

Cicardi's third interception set up Chaffee for its third touchdown of the period, an 8-yard run by Estes for a 26-3 lead with 8 seconds left in the third quarter.

Chaffee extended its string of consecutive possessions for touchdowns to five with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter as Estes scored on runs of 15 and 30 yards.

St. Vincent scored its lone touchdown on a 14-yard pass from Trent Elder to Boxdorfer.

"I felt in the first half we played very physical," coach Sauer said. "But in the second half we went back to playing kind of soft. We've got to figure out how to play 48 minutes of hard-nosed football."

St. Vincent quarterback Taylor Sauer injured a shoulder in the first quarter and was replaced by Elder, who completed 9 of 24 passes for 78 yards and was intercepted three times.

Junior running back Derek Joggerst led St. Vincent with 105 yards rushing on 21 carries.

Freshman Cody Payne started at quarterback for Chaffee but gave way to Yahn on Chaffee's third possession. Yahn completed 4 of 5 passes for 40 yards, while Payne was 1 of 4 for 16 yards with an interception.

Chaffee finished with 298 yards rushing on 52 attempts.

The Red Devils ended a two-game losing streak -- they were outscored 77-0 in the losses -- that came on the heels of an emotional victory against rival Scott City.

Chaffee most likely can clinch a playoff berth this week against Cleveland NJROTC (1-7), which lost 60-0 to Valle in Friday's other district contest.

"We have to forget about this one," Yahn said. "We can't go in like we did [after] Scott City and come out with no emotion at all. We have to come in and play just like we did tonight."

Chaffee 0 7 19 14 -- 40

St. Vincent 0 3 0 7 -- 10

Second Quarter

C -- Jason Cicardi 1 punt return (Jordan Yahn kick), 7:27

SV -- Phillip Ernst 25 FG, 1:30

Third Quarter

C -- Alex Davie 3 pass from Yahn (pass failed), 8:51

C -- Tyson Estes 22 run (kick failed), 3:20

C -- Estes 8 run (Yahn kick), :08

Fourth Quarter

C -- Estes 15 run (Yahn kick), 11:04

SV -- Ryan Boxdorfer 14 pass from Trent Elder (Ernst kick), 9:56

C -- Estes 30 run (Yahn kick), 6:42

C SV

First downs 17 13

Rushes-yards 52-298 30-132

Passing yards 56 78

Passes 5-9-1 9-30-5

Punts 3-35.6 3-29.3

Fumbles-lost 2-1 0-0

Penalties-yards 5-34 5-44

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Chaffee, Estes 31-210, Cody Enderle 1-0, Trevor Cannon 5-14, Yahn 3-21, Mike Rutherford 1-6, Charlie Montgomery 7-41, Cody Payne 3-4, Jimmy Golden 1-2

PASSING -- Chaffee, Yahn 4-5-0-37, Payne 1-4-1-16; St. Vincent, Elder 9-24-3-78, Taylor Sauer 0-6-2-0

RECEIVING -- Chaffee, Davie 2-19, Zach Dannenmueller 1-11, Rutherford 2-26; St. Vincent, Adam Winkler 2-5, Boxdorfer 6-58, Justin Breig 1-15