THAYER, Mo. -- Chaffee's first trip to the state football playoffs in 27 years ended with a thud.
But the Red Devils, featuring just six seniors, believe they laid solid groundwork for future success despite Wednesday's 47-19 Class 1 regional loss to host Thayer.
"We're trying to start a tradition," junior Alex Davie said. "We have a young team and hopefully we'll get better in the offseason."
Said junior quarterback Jordan Yahn: "We're definitely going to be ready for next year. I think we can go a lot further if we try hard enough."
The Red Devils tried hard Wednesday, but it wasn't nearly enough against a potent, playoff-tested Thayer team that entered with a five-game winning streak during which it outscored the opposition 265-35.
That domination continued Wednesday for the Bobcats, who reached the 2007 and 2008 state championship game while making four straight playoff appearances.
The Bobcats, scoring on their first five possessions, led 41-0 midway through the second quarter. Most of their key players spent the rest of the night on the bench.
"We were glad the older ones executed as well as they did so we could get our younger kids in the game," said Thayer coach Billy Webber, whose squad improved to 9-2.
Chaffee, in the playoffs for the first time since winning the 1983 Class 1 state title, ended its season at 4-7.
"They were very good," Chaffee coach Charlie Vickery said. "They jumped on us, and then it kind of snowballed with such a young team."
Vickery knew the Bobcats would have been hard enough to stop if facing long fields. Unfortunately for the Red Devils, they gave Thayer too many short fields.
Three of Thayer's six first-half touchdowns came after interceptions that set the Bobcats up at, in order, Chaffee's 4, 17 and 34-yard lines.
"They did their jobs well. They did what they were supposed to do," Davie said. "We knew it would be tough, and we let them get ahead too early. We gave them good field position, and then it steamrolled."
Yahn and junior Tyson Estes thought the Red Devils could have made a much better showing.
"They're a very good team. We knew what kind of team they were," Estes said. "We just didn't show up the first half."
Said Yahn: "We should have played a lot better than that. We gave them too much. We're a lot better team than that."
Thayer piled up 219 first-half yards while holding Chaffee to 38 yards.
Chaffee's only first-half touchdown came after senior Andrew Terhune recovered a fumble by Thayer reserve freshman quarterback Mitch Webber on the 1-yard line just before the intermission.
After two plays lost a yard, Estes scored on a 2-yard run with 16 seconds left. That made it 41-6 at the break.
Chaffee got much more accomplished in the second half against Thayer's reserves, putting together touchdown drives of 67 and 90 yards.
"I knew they had a lot of young guys in there the second half, but at least we didn't lay down. We stayed in there and fought," Vickery said. "And we had a lot of young guys in there, too."
Yahn's 3-yard run capped a 67-yard drive on the opening possession of the third quarter to make it 41-13.
Vickery let several of his promising freshmen play the entire fourth quarter and they were impressive, led by quarterback Cody Payne and running back Charlie Montgomery.
Payne fired a 16-yard touchdown pass to senior Michael Rutherford midway through the final period, capping a 90-yard march that featured a 41-yard Montgomery run and a 24-yard pass to Montgomery.
Payne completed 8 of 13 passes for 80 yards after Yahn threw for 94 yards while being intercepted three times.
Montgomery ended as Chaffee's top rusher with 55 yards on just three carries. Rutherford had nine receptions for 83 yards.
Thayer senior running back Cameron Carey, who has nearly 1,800 yards rushing this season, piled up 138 yards on just seven attempts.
Carey scored four touchdowns, three from at least 29 yards out. He broke off a 59-yard TD on the first play from scrimmage just 15 seconds into the contest.
"He's a really good back with a lot of speed," said Vickery, whose club trailed 20-0 less than six minutes in.
Vickery echoed his players' thoughts in believing good things lie ahead for the Red Devils.
"Our guys have worked hard all year," he said. "I think this was a good step, making the playoffs. We really have a good nucleus coming back. I feel good about our future."
Chaffee 0 6 7 6 -- 19
Thayer 27 14 0 6 -- 47
First quarter
T -- Cameron Carey 59 run (kick failed), 11:45
T -- Jeremy Cabralas 3 run (Cabralas kick), 8:59
T -- Dylan Dennis 33 pass from Jared Foley (Cabralas kick), 6:10
T -- Carey 29 run (Cabralas kick), :26
Second quarter
T -- Carey 9 run (Cabralas kick), 10:31
T -- Carey 34 run (Cabralas kick), 6:56
C -- Tyson Estes 2 run (kick failed), :16
Third quarter
C -- Jordan Yahn 3 run (Yahn kick), 4:56
Fourth quarter
C -- Michael Rutherford 16 pass from Cody Payne (kick failed), 7:43
T -- Dustin Howell 54 run (run failed), 1:43
C T
First downs 15 10
Rushes-yards 35-89 34-262
Passing yards 174 100
Passes 22-36-3 4-7-0
Punts 3-36 1-36
Fumbles-lost 5-1 4-4
Penalties-yards 1-5 5-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- Chaffee, Charlie Montgomery 3-55, Codey Browne 5-18, Estes 15-17, Devon Yahn 1-13, Zach Dannenmueller 2-11, Cody Enderle 1-2, Trevor Cannon 2-minus 2, J. Yahn 4-minus 12. Thayer, Carey 7-138, Howell 4-63, Jacob Alford 12-56, Cabralas 3-11, Foley 2-minus 2, Mitch Webber 6-minus 4.
Passing -- Chaffee, J. Yahn 14-23-3-94, Payne 8-13-0-80. Thayer, Foley 3-4-0-71, Lucas Risner 1-1-0-29, Webber 0-2-0-0.
Receiving -- Chaffee, Rutherford 9-83, Alex Davie 5-26, Estes 3-8, Montgomery 2-25, Travis Hall 1-14, Andrew Terhune 1-13, Dannenmueller 1-5.
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