TURNOVERS BEDEVIL CHAFFEE IN 48-18 SETBACK

According to Chaffee coach Brian Horrell, the scoreboard didn't tell the whole story Friday in the Red Devils' 48-18 loss at Gosnell, Ark.

"We played outstanding," said Horrell. "The scoreboard does not do us justice."

But there were a few numbers of significance in the game, namely five crucial turnovers by Chaffee that either stopped potential scoring drives or led directly to points for the Pirates.

Horrell, looking for his first win at Chaffee in his second season as coach, saw his team drop to 0-2. Gosnell, with its second win over a Missouri opponent, improved to 2-0.

Looking at the statistics, Chaffee did play Gosnell even. The Red Devils combined for 469 yards of offense while the Pirates got all of their 471 yards on the ground.

So why the 30-point difference?

Chaffee lost four fumbles inside the Gosnell 10-yard line and had an interception returned for a touchdown by the Pirates just before halftime.

"Turnovers are part of the game and you have to give Gosnell credit," said Horrell. "Four times inside the 10, they took the ball away from us."

Chaffee's Nick Swinford, converted to fullback after starting at center last week, led the Red Devil ground game with 144 yards on 18 carries before leaving the game with a head injury in the third quarter. Swinford spent the night in a Blytheville (Ark.) hospital. Horrell had not received word on the extent of Swinford's injury by Saturday.

Swinford put Chaffee ahead 6-0 with a 59-yard run in the first quarter. But the Red Devils couldn't keep up with the big-plays of Gosnell. The Pirates scored on runs of 86, 43, 75, 55, and 25 yards and added a 91-yard kickoff return and a 53 yard interception return.

"We drove the ball on them all night, but they have a high-powered offense," said Horrell. "We don't have the breakaway speed they do and they have tremendous speed as you can see from their big plays.

"We were in position to match their scoring strikes, but we made mistakes."

Trailing 14-12 late in the second quarter, Chaffee had a pass intercepted and returned for a touchdown that gave the Pirates a 22-12 lead at halftime. Gosnell broke the game open on second half kickoff with a 91-yard return to make the score 30-12.

Tommy Stidham added 103 rushing yards and a touchdown for the Red Devils and Matt Graham connected on 11-of-19 passes for 223 yards. Graham connected with Jamie Dumey for a 56-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to make the score 36-18. Dumey had seven receptions for 159 yards.

Sikeston 32, Charleston 30

Local rivalries can bring out the best in high school athletes and that appeared to be the case Friday night at Sikeston in the Bulldogs win over Charleston.

Sikeston withstood five touchdowns and over 200 yards rushing by Charleston's all-state running back Larico Coleman to improve to 2-0 on the year. The loss dropped the Blue Jays to 0-2.

"For our kids to perform the way they did, says a great deal for our athletes," said Charleston coach Dan Kesselring. "Especially after our loss to Kennett."

Last Friday, the Blue Jays dropped their opener at Kennett 31-22.

Despite Coleman's five scores, the Blue Jays were unable to convert any of the extra point conversions. After getting an extra point kick blocked after the first score, Kesselring elected to try two-point conversions the rest of the game.

All four failed, with three of the plays foiled by fumbled snaps.