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Defense sparks Chaffee to another season-opening win over Crystal City, 20-0
CHAFFEE, Mo. — For 24 minutes, it was gridlock. Call it Week 1 football, call it two teams trying to figure out an offensive identity.
Whatever it was, it was inefficient, and at halftime Chaffee and Crystal City remained scoreless.
But what the offenses couldn’t do, the Red Devils defense could. Two plays into the second half, a bad pitch by Crystal City saw Chaffee’s Mason Cook scoop up the ball and rumble 27 yards to the end zone to spark a 20-0 season-opening win for the Red Devils at Mark Whitaker Memorial Field in Chaffee, Missouri.
“We told the kids 1-0 sounds a lot better than 0-1,” Chaffee coach Terry Flannigan said. “Plus, when the sun comes up tomorrow you feel a whole lot better — the bumps don’t hurt as bad.
"We knew Crystal City was going to come in under a new coach and play hard, and they did.”
It was the third season in a row Chaffee (1-0) began its campaign with a victory over the Hornets (0-1), who are coming off a winless season and playing under new head coach Dan Fox.
Cook’s defensive touchdown gave the hosts a 6-0 lead and just enough momentum to pull away.
“The defensive touchdown, that kind of lit the first under us,” Flannigan said. “Then we came back out and started playing good solid defense and did what we needed to do. It takes care of itself. We talk about taking care of the little things and that big thing is going to happen.”
The Red Devils followed up the defensive TD with a big defensive stop in their own red zone, and the Hornets never recovered.
Chaffee running back Dalton Wilson finished the night with 31 carries for 175 yards and a touchdown, as the home team put up 230 yards on the ground.
Crystal City (0-1) managed just 62 total yards of offense. Of 30 rush attempts, 24 went for two yards or less.
The first half was an exercise in futility for both teams, which combined for 125 yards of offense through two quarters. A promising opening drive for Chaffee (1-0) became a turnover on downs as the Red Devils pushed into Crystal City territory.
The teams then traded punts before Hornet defensive back Calloway Dashner intercepted a pass to set up Crystal City possession at midfield. Even that could not break the offensive struggles, and four plays later the Hornets were punting the ball away.
Chaffee moved to the Crystal City 44-yard line in the final minutes of the first half, but a costly holding penalty saw the drive stall out and the two sides went into the locker room without finding the end zone.
Cook’s defensive play shifted the tides to begin the third quarter, but Crystal City threatened on the next drive after solid field position on a failed onside kick by the hosts. The Hornets pushed down to the Chaffee 11, but the Red Devils defense held strong, and a holding call put the Hornets in a hole. A pair of sacks then ended the threat.
Then Wilson took over. The senior ran Chaffee into the red zone before Kaleb Ballard connected with Breven Yarbro for a 14-yard touchdown catch and a 12-0 lead with 1:14 remaining in the third quarter.
Wilson continued to drive the Red Devils offense, carrying the ball seven times on an 11-play drive that was capped when he plunged into the end zone from two yards out for a 20-0 lead with 7 minutes remaining.
Chaffee is back on the field hosting Cabool on Friday.
“A lot of points left on the field because of mistakes,” Flannigan said. “We improved from last week (in the jamboree), and now we’ve just got to improve for next week from this game and we’ll be all right.
“... The thing about getting that win is now they’ll be a little motivated. They’ve got that good taste in their mouth. So away we go.”
| Crystal City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| Chaffee | 0 | 0 | 12 | 8 | — | 20 |
Third quarter
CH — Mason Cook 40 fumble recovery, (kick failed), 10:58
CH — Breven Yarbro 14 pass from Kaleb Ballard, (kick blocked), 1:14
Fourth quarter
CH — Dalton Wilson 2 run, (Wilson run), 7:00
TEAM STATISTICS
| CC | CH | |
| First downs | 5 | 15 |
| Total yards | 62 | 268 |
| Rushes-yards | 30-51 | 46-230 |
| Passing yards | 11 | 38 |
| Passes | 3-7-0 | 2-5-1 |
| Punts-average | 5-35.4 | 2-41.5 |
| Fumbles-lost 1-1 | 2-1 | |
| Penalties-yards | 3-30 | 6-63 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Crystal City, Mike Craig 9-33, Griffin Morris 6-30, Jason Loveless 7-3, Sam Smith 1-0, Philip Harrison 1-(-2), Team 1-(-2), Chase Coleman 1-(-3), Blake Eisenbeis 4-(-8); Chaffee, Dalton Wilson 31-175, Mason Cook 6-25, Breven Yarbro 2-23, Drew Swinford 2-8, Kaleb Ballard 3-4, Dylan Pepple 1-2, Team 1-(-7).
PASSING — Crystal City, Griffin Morris 3-7-11-0; Chaffee, Ballard 2-5-38-1.
RECEIVING — Crystal City, Craig 2-10, Loveless 1-1; Chaffee, Yarbro 2-38.