Twenty-one point deficits are nothing new for the Chaffee Red Devils, who have been struggling to win football games for most of the last decade.

On Thursday night, Chaffee fell behind visiting Ste. Genevieve Valle 21-0 in the first quarter.

The Red Devils battled back, establishing a running game and pulling to within seven points late in the third quarter. But they could not overcome a problem which has plagued them all season long: failure to convert in the red zone.

Unable to make the big plays in big positions, Chaffee lost its final game of the year 35-14.

Chaffee finished the season 1-9. Valle ended at 4-6.

"We should have been driving for the winning touchdown at the end of the game instead of trailing by 21 points," Chaffee coach Brian Horrell said. "If we score when we had the opportunities, it's a different ballgame. Mistakes cost us two touchdowns."

It took Valle 12 seconds to make life difficult for the Red Devils. Mark Tlapek returned the opening kickoff 81 yards. Pat Vessel's kick made it 7-0.

Valle's second drive began on the Chaffee 45-yard line after a punt and ended with a 5-yard touchdown run by Nick Rayoum.

Valle failed to convert on its third drive, but the Red Devils fumbled the ball away at their own 21-yard line on their next possession. Clint Meyer recovered for Valle, and on the next play from scrimmage, Greg Lottes ran 21 yards off tackle to give the Warriors a 21-0 lead.

"It was senior night, and for some reason, we just came out flat," Horrell said. "I guess we thought we were the only team playing in cold weather. Starting like that is hard to overcome."

Slowly, however, Chaffee began to overcome.

The Red Devils drove 93 yards in 11 plays to cut the lead to 21-6. Tommy Stidham covered most of the ground, highlighted by a 37-yard run from the Chaffee 7-yard line, and Andy Proffer capped the drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Travis Hanback.

Chaffee's next drive was perhaps the key to the game. The Red Devils discovered they could run on Valle, forcing Tommy Stidham through the line eight consecutive times at one point.

Stidham finished the half with 91 yards on 17 carries.

With first down from the 10-yard line, however, Chaffee could not punch it in, eventually turning the ball over on an incomplete pass on fourth-and-3 with 14 seconds left in the half.

Chaffee started slowly again in the second half, punting after its first two possessions. Valle struggled to move the ball as well.

The Red Devils heated up on their third possession, however, driving 45 yards and scoring on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Travis Hanback. A conversion pass from Hanback to G.P. Glueck made it 21-14 Valle.

"We thought, `we can move the ball,'" Chaffee lineman Jason Harrell said. "In the first quarter we let them take it to us, but we fought back."

Valle struck back immediately on its next drive. Adam Basler, who did not play in the first half, ran 52 yards off left end to the Chaffee 4-yard line. Three plays later, he scored from 1-yard out. The kick failed, and Valle led 27-14.

Chaffee matched Valle with a quick strike of its own; a 56-yard run by Glueck to the Valle 2-yard line.

A one-yard touchdown run by Glueck was nullified by an illegal motion penalty, however, and Chaffee eventually failed to get into the endzone, as Hanback was picked off by Kevin Fallert at the 3-yard line.

Basler added another touchdown, on a 22-yard flat pass with 3:01 left in the game, and his conversion run made it 35-14.

Stidham, who left the game in the third quarter with an ankle injury, finished the game with 91 yards on 21 carries. Glueck, a sophomore, had 125 yards on 10 rushes.

"We haven't jumped ahead in a ballgame like that," said Vessel, Valle's quarterback. "We had a few breakdowns, but we got over it."