All that separates Scott City and Chaffee is a short car ride down Route M.

But for two towns so close together, their high school football programs have been miles apart until recently. The Rams have not lost to Chaffee since 1985 and during that span Chaffee has been within a touchdown only four times.

After over a decade of dominance, the Red Devils have started to make headway on Scott City the past two seasons. The Rams squeaked out a 23-21 win two years ago and escaped with a 14-6 win last year.

"I feel like this is the game that could turn it around for the team," Chaffee junior Matt Sanders said.

Those two close wins over Chaffee have been part of a downward slide after four straight winning seasons in the late 1990s for Scott City. The Rams have only seven wins the past two years and have struggled through three straight losses after winning their opener this season. One of those losses ended East Prairie's 19-game losing streak, which dated back to 2001.

"I still feel we have a good football team," Scott City coach Jackie Johnson said.

Chaffee's struggles have been well documented during the past decade. Chaffee, winless on the season, has not won more than three games since 1990, its last winning season.

"We've got to reach down and find something extra," Chaffee coach Terry Brashers said. "We have to continue on this season and hope something good happens."

Even though the Rams likely enter tonight's game as the clear favorite, both teams have had their share of adversity this season and are desperate to get on the winning track.

"This is going to be a heck of a football game," Johnson said. "We're going to have to come down there and be ready to play."

The Red Devils have had to deal with a team full of inexperience. Chaffee (0-4) starts a sophomore quarterback in Jeff Daugherty and its top two running backs are a pair of underclassmen. On Chaffee's 28-man roster, only 10 players are upperclassmen and only two are seniors.

"The junior class is kind of like seniors. They've stepped up," Chaffee senior Marshall Hicks said. "The sophomores are kind of acting like juniors, too."

Scott City has a more typical mix of juniors and seniors but is on its third coach in as many years.

"This group of seniors has never had a head coach for more than one year," Johnson said. "They've had to learn a new system four years in a row.

"I want to be here next year and build this program. I want these kids to be able to come back and know what's happening."

Added to the growing pains each team has suffered through this season, the players also have to deal with the charged atmosphere of a natural rivalry and Chaffee's homecoming.

"Being a rival I think the kids will take it more seriously," Brashers said. "They always talk about Scott City as a team they want to beat. But when you have the rivalry and you've got homecoming, too, it's hard to stay focused."

Win or lose, both teams are looking toward the future.

The Rams have a strong core of juniors coming back, including running back Matt Schaefer and quarterback Luke McClellan.

"We're trying to build something here," Johnson said. "Each day we're learning something new."

For Brashers, the task is trying to make the players believe they can win. The Red Devils' players were yet to enter grade school the last time Chaffee had a winning season.

"We're still lacking confidence," Brashers said. "Confidence comes from the weight room and having some strength and it also comes from winning."

jjoffray@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 171