With his defense's backs to the goalline and trailing 27-8 in the third quarter, Doniphan head coach Jeremy Stout seemed to be thinking out loud as he called the next play.
"One of these days you're going to figure it out," Stout yelled to his defense.
The next three plays netted just two yards for the Chaffee Red Devils and on fourth down a high snap in the shotgun resulted in a 17-yard loss. The Dons stopped the Chaffee Red Devils on downs and put together a strong finish to Week 7 in their first varsity football season.
Chaffee's 33-20 win Friday night at Griffin Field kept the Dons searching for their first varsity win. But in the big picture of figuring out what it takes to compete at the varsity level, the Dons graded out well, Stout said.
Some achievements included:
*Holding a lead for the first time this season (8-7) following a 71-yard, five-play drive and two-point conversion in the first quarter;
*Compiling a season-best 258 yards in total offense (131 on the ground and 127 in the air);
*Allowing an average of 3.2 yards per play against a clock-consuming Red Devils offense that ran 75 plays;
*Stopping Chaffee fives times on downs including twice inside the Dons 10-yard line.
Mistakes cost the Dons. Three lost fumbles (out of seven drops overall) along with a pair of long kick returns helped the Red Devils to three TDs.
"We moved the ball offensively and the kids played very, very hard," Stout said. "We still made our fair share of mistakes, and being a young team I get that. I'll take the blame on this one. I didn't have them ready to go."
Following the goal-line stand, the Dons went to work to stay in the game down to the final three minutes.
Quarterback Hunter Roberts connected with Max Torres on a short screen pass. Torres broke several tackles down the sideline to cover 73 yards for the touchdown to cut the lead to 27-14 with nine seconds left in the third quarter.
Chaffee ran more than four minutes off the clock with a drive to the Dons' 21. A bizarre play on fourth-and-1 at the 21 cost the Dons.
Red Devils quarterback Kaleb Ballard tried a straight-ahead sneak but ended up in the grasp of Dons tackle Tristan Gettings and linebacker Michael Turner.
As the defensive surge pushed the quarterback backward, Ballard collided with running back Kade Sullivan. Somehow, Sullivan took the ball from his quarterback and swept left undetected for 20 yards down to the 1.
Ballard went to the air to find wide receiver Breven Yarbro on first-and-goal to push the lead to 33-14 wtih 6:47 left in the game.
Doniphan followed with a 5-play, 66-yard march sparked by 41-yard halfback pass completion from Trey Mills to Torres.
Torres added a 25-yard run on the drive down to the Red Devil 1. Roberts crashed the middle of the line for the touchdown with 5:20 left to play, pulling the Dons within 33-20.
Doniphan took possession at its own 35 with 4:10 to play, but four pass attempts netted just four yards. With the Dons out of timeouts, Chaffee ran the final 3:19 off the clock to improve to 2-5 on the season.
Chaffee grounded out 179 yards rushing behind 34 carries and 150 yards from Sullivan, a senior. Yarbro, a 6-foot-3 senior, was a matchup problem for the Dons' secondary and finished with five catches for 71 yards.
"Once (Chaffee) got into the game management mode in the second half, they did a great job," Stout said. "My hat is off to them. (Sullivan) is a load to bring down at running back and we had to double cover their big receiver. Our guys did what they could to keep him from catching the ball. "
Chaffee rolled up 19 first downs and dominated the possession time while running 75 plays. Only three plays covered more than 10 yards.
Ballard, who completed 6-of-14 pass attempts, burned the Dons on a pair of kick returns.
After the Dons were forced to punt on their first possession, Ballard's 29-yard return set the Red Devils' at the DHS 21. He earned the game's first score on a 9-yard run with 8:37 on the clock.
The Dons answered with a long drive starting at their own 29. Trey Mills broke a 34-yard gain down to the Red Devil 25. Gavin Thompson gained 15 yards on a reverse to the 7. Mills earned the TD from there with 6:57 left in the opening quarter. Jordan White's run for the two-point conversion put the Dons on top 8-7.
The Dons' first lead this season didn't last long.
Ballard field the ensuing kickoff at his own 20 and found running room straight ahead to cover 80 yards for the touchdown with just 12 seconds running off the clock.
Chaffee drove 48 yards in 11 plays with help from a pass interference call against the Dons to move ahead 21-8 early in the second quarter. Sullivan earned the TD on a 4-yard run.
Torres, one of six Dons seniors, finished with 176 all-purpose yards including three catches for 123 yards. Mills led the DHS ground game with 61 yards on six carries.
The Dons will travel to Fredericktown on Friday night to face a Class 3 District 1 foe. The Blackcats are 1-6 following a 54-17 loss Friday against Ste. Genevieve.
"Right now, we're in last place in the district (out of eight teams) and Fredericktown is seventh, so that gives us a chance," Stout said.