Under Altermatt, Chaffee FB taking steps in the right direction

It took two weeks for the Chaffee Red Devils to get their first win of the season, when last year it took four. The Red Devils defeated Charleston 14-12 last week after falling to the Blue Jays 36-6 last season.

It's a sign of the Red Devils growing under head coach Jack Altermatt, who took over a program that won only one game three years in a row and doubled it the previous season.

"Everyone is committed to us getting better," Altermatt said, "and they're starting to see the return on their investment."

Even in the two games against Crystal City and Charleston, two teams with eight wins the previous year much has changed from Chaffee's perspective.

"We didn't score any against Crystal City last and only six points against Charleston," Altermatt said. "We put up 21 points but that literally is 15 more points than we did last year at this time.

"We only scored on the first drive once, and that was against Doniphan," he said. "We never scored on the first drive and now this year we scored on the first two drives in both those games. So our mentality is we got to continue to move the ball."

Senior quarterback Carson Spies has proven to be the heart and soul of this team. For a squad that runs the ball with multiple options, including Levi McKinnie, and Shelton Simmons, all three touchdowns this season have come on the ground by Spies, who has 211 rushing yards on 31 carries in two games.

"He'll carry the load," Altermatt said.

"As long as we're scoring, I don't think it really matters who is scoring," Spies said. "I feel like we're working more as a team rather than just individually relying on each other."

Spies was also an all-state selection as a defensive back last season. He and senior linebacker Carter Cossou are the only two Red Devils to have over 20 tackles this season.

"I think all these little changes we've been making on defense, all this work we've been working on, I feel like that has really pushed us to have a big defensive drive," Spies said.

Altermatt said the Red Devils defense is "more solid" and "a step up from where we were last year," mainly because of the maturity that comes with having several seniors in key positions.

"[Cossou] is a horse," Altermatt said, "Levi McKinnie is great, and our backend is all upperclassmen too. Blake Yarbro is playing defensive tackle, he's drawn double-teams all the time so his stat lines aren't great but he just needs space. Angel Navarro has done a good job too."

The result of their first home game of the season could shape the trajectory of the Red Devils this season. However, the clear change in mentality could keep Chaffee competitive the rest of the way.