Although Chaffee won just one of its final four games last season, coach Brian Horrell said his Red Devils were considerably more devilish in those games.

"Our last four games of the year we were very, very competitive," he said.

After losing 18 successive games over two years, Chaffee went 2-7 last season. One victory was the result of a Malden forfeit. The other came against Hayti, which went 1-9.

But Horrell was encouraged by a double-overtime loss to eventual district champion St. Vincent and a close game against powerful Ste. Genevieve Valle. "We finished pretty strong last year and hopefully we can get started a little sooner this year," he said.

With the return of seven starters on offense and defense, Horrell said he hopes to begin "stabilizing" Chaffee's football program.

"I'm not going to say that I expect to win a whole bunch of games, but I believe we should be very competitive this year," he said. "I think we ought to be able to make an improvement in our win-and-loss record this year, definitely."

Although several players are returning, others are inexperienced. "We don't have a lot of depth at the varsity positions," Horrell said. "We have a lot of kids that are doing a lot of learning right now."

Breaking big plays will be vital. While last season quarterback Matt Graham, a senior and third-year starter this season, had a good completion percentage, the Red Devils receivers "usually just caught the ball and got tackled," Horrell said. Last year Graham completed 56 of 136 passes for 867 yards and three touchdowns.

Returning wide receivers Andy Proffer, a senior, and Nick Cook, a junior, have worked on down-field blocking during practices. Proffer caught 13 passes for 234 yards last season.

"Our receivers have got to be able to have the run after the catch," Horrell said. "In high school football, it's hard to drive the ball 80 yards in 10 plays. You've got to be able to break one here and there. And we've lacked that. We're just not scoring enough."

Junior Tommy Stidham might see time at quarterback. If not, he'll be the third running back behind starter Shawn Powderly and reserve Ben Boitnott. Both are sophomores.

Although the running back corps is young, much pressure will fall on it. "I think we've been able to throw the ball pretty successfully, but we've got to get a running game to go with it," Horrell said. "We're really working on that this year."

Junior Billy Van Pelt, who is among four Red Devils starters out temporarily with injury, will be the tight end.

Chaffee's offensive line, whose 195-pound average is light, will be anchored by third-year starter Andy Oberman, a junior, until senior Jason Harrell recovers from elbow surgery. Junior Mike McClard is another key lineman.

On defense, Van Pelt, whose 10 sacks ranked second in Southeast Missouri last season, was an all-district end. Oberman will play tackle and Proffer, Stidham and junior Nick Cook will man the backfield.

But the linebacker slots are still unfilled. "Right now we have a lot of linebacker competition going on," Horrell said. "We might end up putting two sophomores out on the field."

Chaffee opens the season Friday night at Grandview,