Hayti football scores early, often as it rolls past Chaffee and into district final rematch

The Chaffee football team gather in a huddle in this Sept. 15 file photo. On Friday, the Red Devils fell to Hayti 66-7 in a Class 1 District 1 semifinal game in Hayti, Missouri.

Andrew J. Whitaker ~ Southeast Missourian

HAYTI, Mo. -- Sometimes there's no need to overanalyze things. Sometimes one team just does what it takes to win and the other team does not.

The Chaffee football team entered Friday night with a list of things it had to do compete with No. 9-ranked Hayti, and the third-seeded Red Devils proceeded to do none of them. The result was the second-seeded Indians punched them in the mouth and ran off with a 66-7 victory in a Class 1 District 1 semifinal at Hayti High School.

"Basically, that's it," Chaffee coach Terry Flannigan said. "[Hayti] is a great team and we knew what we had to stop and we knew what we had to do to win and to run on offense. They're a good ball club. Our kids have played hard all season, but it's been a bump in the road for us both times we've played. Like I said, this is the best Hayti team I've seen in quite a while."

That played out immediately, as Hayti (9-2) scored on just the fourth play from scrimmage, with quarterback Chrivontae Moore hitting TreCharles McCoy down field for a 46-yard touchdown.

It was a sign of things to come, and to make matters worse, the Red Devils (7-4) fumbled the ball away twice in the first quarter, including one that allowed Norshawn McIntyre to scoop and score with 5:57 left in the opening period. McIntyre had two fumble recoveries on the day.

By the time the first quarter had come to a close, the host Indians already led 30-0. Needless to say, Chaffee was never able to pose a threat.

"Starting out of the gate we wanted to be up," Hayti coach Dominique Robinson said. "Our guys play better when they're ahead, so I love the fact our defense made plays, flying around to get us the ball back so we could score some more.

"This team right here, Chaffee, man, they've been a successful team this year. They surprised a lot of people early in the season. ... We just wanted to execute. It's playoff time. We don't want to go home. Our guys, they have a goal and it's to win a state championship, and I feel like they executed like a state championship team. We'll be ready next week."

Hayti will face top seed Valle Catholic on Friday in a district championship rematch from a year ago, when the Warriors won 41-24.

In the semifinal, the Indians looked like a team itching for a shot at revenge, and Chaffee was standing in the way.

Hayti had nine offensive possessions and scored on all but the final one, when the game came to an end.

Moore finished the night 5-of-7 passing for 94 yards and three touchdowns, while adding 59 yards and a score on six rushes.

Ivory Winters carried the football five times for 109 yards and a pair of TDs, and added a receiving touchdown; L'Darrius McIntyre had four rushes for 94 yards and a score.

The hosts ran just 30 plays but amassed 412 total yards of offense, 318 of which came on the ground (13.8 yards per carry).

Chaffee, meanwhile, ran 51 plays, but could muster just 128 yards of total offense.

Landon Tenkhoff was 7-of-12 for 77 yards through the air while rushing 15 times for 52 yards and his teams lone touchdown, which came with 2 minutes, 38 seconds remaining in the third quarter and made the score 52-7.

That TD was set up by a pair of 26-yard connections with Kaleb Ballard, who had four catches for 61 yards.

The Red Devils threatened to score midway through the first quarter, pushing down to the Hayti 12-yard-line, but on second-and-8 Chaffee fumbled the ball away -- the second straight drive it did so -- and three plays later the Indians were in the end zone, courtesy of a 33-yard run by Winters that made the score 30-0.

"That's what we talked to the kids about," Flannigan said. "When you're playing a team like that, you can't have those types of mistakes. Those are the things taking care of ourselves. I talked about if we take care of those and finish a couple of drives, I don't know. You never know what might happen. I'd like to see, but now we'll never know."

L'Darrius McIntyre had a 64-yard touchdown run and a 15-yard TD catch in the second quarter to make it 44-0 at halftime.

Chaffee again threatened the goal line just before the break, setting up first-and-goal at the 10 after Tenkhoff broke loose for a 33-yard scamper, but four plays later Chaffee was right where it started as the horn sounded to send the teams to the locker room.

After the Red Devils punted to begin the third quarter, Moore kept the ball himself for a 36-yard Hayti touchdown, reversing fields and putting his side up 52-0.

After Tenkhoff put Chaffee on the board, Hayti needed just two plays to answer, with Winters rushing 25 yards around the right edge for his second ground TD.

The Red Devils fumbled the ball away on the second play of their ensuing series, and Hayti again took advantage, as Damomrri Reed broke through the line to go 40 yards to the end zone on fourth-and-19 from the Chaffee 40 to seal the 66-7 final score.

The Indians will travel to Ste. Genevieve to take on 2016 semifinalist Valle Catholic in a matchup the players have been looking forward to.

"They've been waiting on this moment since May. Actually, since we lost to them (last year)," Robinson said. "Our guys are focused up and we're going to be fine. I'm proud of them so far and I'm gonna be proud of them after Friday night because they're going to give me everything they've got."

Chaffee's season comes to an end, but not before putting together the program's best campaign since 2013 in its first year under Flannigan.

"No. 1 thing was to have a winning season and No. 2 was to advance in the playoffs, so we reached those two goals," Flannigan said. "That was our big point. ... I think the kids finally realized -- they were excited about being in the playoffs and they were talking, the buzz was in the hallways, this and that, and you listen to talk, 'Yeah, we can beat them.'

"This is our first year together; next year will be a little bit better. We'll just build. At least we've laid the foundation this year, and now they know what it is to get to the playoffs and move on and all that kind of stuff. I'm excited about getting started next year."

It was the final game in a Chaffee uniform for seniors Tyler Whistler, Devohn Foulk, Jason Myers, Ethan Dockins and Jaxon Van Pelt. Van Pelt did not play due to a knee injury, and Dockins left the game in the first half with a leg injury. The Red Devils also lost sophomore lineman Casey Clover during the game.

"Lots of times when there's a change, some don't want to accept it," Flannigan said. "That crew -- those five seniors we have -- they accepted it and they took it on and did some great leadership at times. I was just proud of them. Proud that they stuck it out. I told them, 'I can kind of be a jerk sometimes,' but it's to make them the best possible football player they can be. They took that and ran with it and I'm proud of those seniors. I'm proud of the whole team."

First quarter

H -- TreCharles McCoy 46 pass from Chrivontae Moore (run failed), 10:57

H -- Ivory Winters 4 pass from Moore (Winters run), 6:56

H -- Norshawn McIntyre 15 fumble return (Winters run), 5:57

H -- Winters 33 run (McCoy run), 1:02

Second quarter

H -- L'Darrius McIntyre 64 run (run failed), 10:57

H -- L. McIntyre 15 pass from Moore (Damorri Reed run), 6:59

Third quarter

H -- Moore 36 run (Winters run), 6:22

C -- Landon Tenkhoff 1 run (Kaleb Ballard kick), 2:38

H -- Winters 25 run (Tylor Wooden run), :22

Fourth quarter

H -- Reed 40 run (run failed), 8:45

TEAM STATISTICS

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Chaffee, Landon Tenkhoff 15-52, Kaleb Harper 10-12, Dylan Pebble 6-10, Drew Swinford 1-0, Breven Yarbro 3-(-10), Team 1-(-13); Hayti, Ivory Winters 5-109, L'Darrius McIntyre 4-94, Chrivontae Moore 6-59, Damorri Reed 1-40, Tylor Wooden 2-28, David Covington 1-1, TreCharles McCoy 2-(-4), Trevonte Taylor 1-(-4), DeAnthony Reed 1-(-5).

PASSING -- Chaffee, Tenkhoff 7-12-77-0; Hayti, Moore 5-7-94-0.

RECEIVING -- Chaffee, Kaleb Ballard 4-61, Yarbro 2-16, Kade Sullivan 1-0; Hayti, Winters 2-18, McCoy 1-46, Xavier Jamerson 1-15, L. McIntyre 1-15.