Malden shuts out Chaffee in football showdown

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- The Chaffee Red Devils' inconsistencies couldn't be overcome.

Whether it was a goal-line situation or fourth-and-long, Chaffee ended its drives the same way each time -- giving the ball to the Malden Green Wave.

The Red Devils were shut out for the second consecutive week as the visiting Green Wave posted a 35-0 win Friday night.

"We didn't execute anything," Chaffee senior wide receiver Mike Rutherford said. "Maybe a drive or two, but we didn't put together a game. We just wasn't getting a rhythm going. We had plenty of chances to score all through the game. We were moving the ball good and then just quit."

A lack of execution wasn't more evident than at the beginning of the second half when the Red Devils recovered an onside kick to start the third quarter already down 27-0. The Red Devils marched to Malden's 3-yard line but had a pass from quarterback Cody Payne intercepted in the end zone.

Chaffee's Tyson Estes is tackled by Malden's Ray Wilson during Friday's game in Chaffee, Mo. (CHRIS POBST ~ Sikeston Standard Democrat)

"It definitely took our confidence back down," Rutherford said. "We needed a score to get our confidence up and we didn't get it. That interception was definitely a dagger. It was bad."

It was a play that summarized the growing pains that a young Chaffee team has had to deal with all season.

"That's kind of been us all year," Chaffee coach Charlie Vickery said. "If it would have been just a bit higher, we would have been in the end zone. We got to get over the hump with a young team. It's just the mistakes that we made."

Chaffee (2-5) combined for six first downs, and its longest play was an 18-yard pass from Payne to Zach Dannenmueller.

While Chaffee struggled with rhythm, Malden hardly missed a beat.

The Green Wave converted 21 first downs and averaged 9.3 yards per play. They rushed the ball 30 times for 215 yards, and sophomore quarterback Tanner Murphy led the way through the air with Quentin Jackson catching five passes for 157 yards.

The Green Wave wasted little time gaining an early lead as Murphy connected on his first of three touchdowns just four minutes into the first quarter. He hit Jackson from 13 yards out for the score.

"Their quarterback is really good and we knew coming in he's as good a quarterback as we've seen all year," Vickery said. "He makes good decisions and throws the ball real well."

Murphy, who completed 13 of 20 passes for 252 yards, hit Percy Johnson for an 8-yard touchdown with 3:33 left in the first quarter to make it 13-0. Patrick Wilson returned a 25-yard interception thrown by Chaffee quarterback Jordan Yahn to give the Green Wave a 19-0 lead just 33 seconds later.

"They didn't do nothing we didn't expect," Rutherford said. "All week we knew they were going to run in a lot of formations. We just didn't execute.

"Our coaches said [Murphy] was going to run a lot and said he was going to pass and that's what he did. We just didn't stop him."

A 2-yard run by Wilson made it 27-0 at the end of the first half.

Following Chaffee's missed goal-line chance, Murphy showed off his legs by ripping off a 17-yard scamper with 5:44 left in the third quarter to start the running clock.

"They're a real good football team," Vickery said. "They move well and didn't make very many mistakes."

Chaffee running back Tyson Estes had 75 yards on 12 carries, while Payne completed seven passes of his 17 attempts for 63 yards and one interception.

"After the first quarter, we played much, much better," Vickery said. "We can take some positives from this. We didn't play hard [against East Prairie], but we played hard this week.

"We're learning, and with a young team like that, we're just going to keep getting better. Tonight we did some better things. We just have to clean up the mistakes. I think if we come in and play really well, we have a good shot to make the playoffs."

Malden 19 8 8 0 -- 35

Chaffee 0 0 0 0 -- 0

First Quarter

M -- Quentin Jackson 13 pass from Tanner Murphy (Kyle Lemarr kick); 8:12

M -- Percy Johnson 10 pass from Murphy (run failed); 3:33

M -- Patrick Wilson 25 interception return (kick failed); 3:00

Second Quarter

M -- Wilson 2 run (Johnson run); 7:38

Third Quarter

M -- Murphy 17 run (Wilson run); 5:44

TEAM STATISTICS

M C

First downs 21 6

Rushes-yards 30-215 16-99

Passing yards 252 69

Passes 13-20-1 9-23-2

Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1

Penalties-yards 11-85 6-50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Malden, Patrick Wilson 9-81, Justen Rowe 5-45, Kyle Lemarr 2-17, Ray Wilson 5-15, Tanner Murphy 5-36, Percy Johnson 2-18, Romello McCoy 2-3. Chaffee, Tyson Estes 12-75, Jordan Yahn 1-1, Trevor Cannon 2-7, Cody Payne 1-16.

PASSING -- Malden, Tanner Murphy 13-20-1 252. Chaffee, Cody Payne 7-17-1 63, Jordan Yahn 2-6-1 6.

RECEIVING -- Malden, Quentin Jackson 5-157, Percy Johnson 3-25, Ray Wilson 2-27, Jordan McMunn 1-9, Patrick Wilson 1-8, Kyle Lemarr 1-6. Chaffee, Zach Dannenmueller 2-21, Tyson Estes 3-23, Cody Enderle 1-8, Mike Rutherford 3-17.