Chaffee's season comes to abrupt end vs. Thayer

~ The Red Devils fell to the Bobcats in a district semifinal

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- A collection of Chaffee players made their way into the weight room and simply sat. Some had towels on their head. Others kept their helmets on.

No one said a word as they kept to themselves thinking about what they could have done differently following their 28-22 loss to Thayer in a Class 1 District 1 semifinal on Wednesday.

"It wasn't supposed to end like this," Chaffee quarterback Peyton Montgomery said as a collective statement the rest of his teammates shared.

Chaffee's dream season crashed to a halt on its home field with a 9-2 record. The Red Devils flirted with a perfect regular season finish but fell to Charleston in the final week as Montgomery rested an injured shoulder. They won their first eight games, which was the best start to a season since 1956 when the team finished 9-0.

"We can't let this spoil what we accomplished," Chaffee coach Charlie Vickery said. "We wanted more and we had opportunities, but we just didn't get it done."

Chaffee had one shot at possibly tying or winning the game with eight seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter. Montgomery took the snap and dropped back looking for receivers who darted towards the other end of the field. Facing pressure, Chaffee's quarterback scrambled in the backfield averting tackles before eventually deciding to take off.

Montgomery was almost brought down before throwing a lateral to Jimmy Golden, who was trailing the play. Golden was quickly brought down at Chaffee's 41-yard line to end the season.

"At times we played like the old Chaffee," Chaffee lineman Trevor Morehead said. "We fell apart at crucial moments."

After scoring three times in the first two quarters, Chaffee's offense went stagnant in the second half and gained a total of 115 yards. The Red Devils gained 259 in the first two quarters.

"I think the offense came out and wasn't really clicking," Morehead said about the second half. "We couldn't get momentum going enough to score."

Chaffee also didn't help themselves. A block in the back penalty after Thayer tied the game pushed the Chaffee offense to a first-and-38 situation. The Red Deviels eventually turned the ball over on downs at Thayer's 22-yard line.

"They capitalized on our mistakes," Morehead said. "Penalties just killed us. We gave them too many yards. Good teams don't do that."

Chaffee led 22-15 at halftime. Montgomery piled up 200 offensive yards (101 passing, 99 rushing) and ran for two touchdowns in the first half, including a 62-yard run.

Opening the second half, Thayer recovered an onside kick at Chaffee's 29-yard line that was left untouched by Chaffee's special teams. Six plays later, Thayer's Aiden Henry scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 22.

Chaffee's ensuing possession started at the 20-yard line. The Red Devils ate up six minutes, 24 seconds on the drive -- aided by an impressive 18-yard first down run by Montgomery on third-and-17 -- but stalled with 2:51 left in the third.

Henry scored his second touchdown run shortly after on a 33-yard keeper giving Thayer its first and last lead of the night 28-22.

Montgomery's second touchdown put the Red Devils ahead 22-8 with 6:45 left in the second quarter.

Peyton Montgomery finished with 136 yards rushing on 15 carries and 145 yards passing. Golden rushed for 41 yards on 11 carries, and Charlie Montgomery had 26 yards on six carries. Layton Tenkhoff had four catches for 58 yards.

"It's a tough loss," Vickery said. "It makes it even tougher when you have a good group that had good leadership all year long. That makes it even tougher to lose."