Dekarai Weaver's kickoff return for TD sparks Chaminade past Vianney

KIRKWOOD — Chaminade junior Dekarai Weaver thought just one thing when he went back to receive the kickoff for the second half.

He wanted to score. He did.

Weaver recorded his first kickoff return for a touchdown to snap a tie and send the Red Devils off to a 41-35 victory Friday night over the Vianney Golden Griffins in a Metro Catholic Conference game.

"I owe it to my teammates for their blocks," Weaver said. "They made it happen."

Weaver had a big part in the TD as well. He broke some tackles and made a good move at midfield to break from any Vianney defenders.

He darted to the end zone, giving Vianney a 21-14 lead.

"We needed that to get us going," Weaver said.

Chaminade coach Antoine Torrey agreed.

"We said at halftime we needed one," Torrey said with a chuckle. "We needed something from special teams. Dekarai is a great athlete. He's a first-team all-state corner for us. He made a big play for us."

It was a game-changing play, Vianney coach Chris Starkey said.

"It really sucks the momentum right out of you," Starkey said. "Especially when we came into halftime and felt like we had some things that were working as far as game plans and making adjustments.

"When that happens, it's a back breaker."

Chaminade evened its record at 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the MCC.

"There's no such thing as an easy conference win," Torrey said. "We try to sell the kids on that. Vianney gave us everything they had. Getting a win in the MCC is always a tough win to get."

Vianney fell to 2-2, 0-1.

"I'm really proud of how our kids continue to fight," Starkey said. "We dug ourselves a bit of hole, but we never gave up. Three years ago it would have been a completely different story. It speaks to how far we've come as a group.

"We've got three tough games coming up. We've got to right the ship. I think our kids will respond well and keep heading in the right direction."

Tough runner

Red Devils senior running back Madden Irving finished with 210 yards rushing on 26 carries. He had two runs of 50 and 57 yards. He scored on an 11-yard run. He also caught a 28-yard pass.

"I am definitely tired," Irving said. "I can't even lie. Whatever I do out there is because of my linemen and my quarterback. I trust my line and get first downs when I need to.

"I love the workload. I can't do anything if they don't give me the ball."

But it wasn't just explosive runs that helped the Red Devils. Madden Irving converted a couple of key short yardage plays to extend drives.

"Madden took care of the ball," Torrey said. "He's been our guy for three seasons. He's put up almost 1,600 yards a year. He's an all-state kid and a high character kid who's also a good student.

"We wanted to lean on him the most and when we needed him, he got the job done offensively for us. He's a leader. He's a great basketball player. There's nobody else do we want to have the ball when we need to get some yards."

Under center for Vianney

Junior Samuel Deen was named the Randy Frisch Award winner as MVP of the homecoming game.

Deen threw for 271 yards on 15 of 24 passing and two touchdowns. He did not have any interceptions.

"I'm not sure there's a football player who's grown as much as Sam Deen has," Starkey said. "When he was a freshman, he was 5-3 and 105 pounds. He threw his first pass and threw out elbow out and had to have surgery. He didn't play a down as a freshman.

"He's skyrocketed since then. There's some really good things he's going to do for us over the next two years."

Third quarter score

The Red Devils jumped out to a 28-14 lead on an 11-yard TD run by Irving with 5:30 to play.

Griffins fight back

The Red Devils had a touchdown called back for holding on the first play of the fourth quarter and then lost the ball on downs.

Vianney took over on its 20. Junior receiver Samuel Smith caught a 44-yard pass to put the ball at the Chaminade 13. Smith ended the game with four receptions for 107 yards.

"He's going to be a really good player for us," Starkey said about Smith. "He's only a junior."

Three plays later, senior Nicholas Miller scored, cutting the margin to 28-21.

Big return again

Chaminade junior Steven Dyson II returned the kickoff 45 yards to the 50.

"My guys all blocked really well there, and I saw a hole and I just tried to shoot through it," Dyson said. "I trust my guys and I try to get as many yards as I can. We put in a lot of work."

Weaver caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Weiler Wyn, who threw for 84 yards on 3 of 6 passing and two touchdowns. That gave Chaminade a 35-21 lead with 6 minutes to play.

Final flurry

Vianney got a touchdown pass in 60 seconds when junior Anthony Cullen caught a 13-yard touchdown pass to make it 35-28.

Chaminade then responded with its final touchdown with 56 seconds left when junior Makai Robinson scored on a 44-yard dash before the missed extra point.

"Makai sealed the deal for us on that long run," Torrey said. "He's fast. He's a good change-of-pace back."

The Golden Griffins fought to the end. Vianney scored with 10 seconds left when senior Cole Adair caught a 13-yard TD pass.

Adair had a big game for Vianney. He made a touchdown-saving tackle in game and recovered a fumble.

"He's never going to lack effort," Starkey said. "That speaks volumes about the type of person he is."

Off and running

Irving went off tackle on a third-and-3 from the Chaminade 39. He broke through the line and only a tackle by Adair prevented a touchdown when he brought him down from behind at the 11-yard line.

Four plays later, sophomore Arondo Irving bulled in from the 1 for the touchdown. Senior Lou Abounader kicked the extra point for a 7-0 Red Devils lead.

Catch and run

Adair came across for a pass and caught it at the Chaminade 45. He was brought down at the 2 by junior Steven Dyson II on the last play of the first quarter.

On the first play of the second quarter, sophomore Robert Eatherton went inside and then bounced out to the right and scored. Senior Liam Peters booted the extra point, tying the game 7-7.

Turnover costly

Adair was the man on the spot again for Vianney. He recovered a fumble by Chaminade's Makai Robinson at the Golden Griffins 20.

Vianney made Chaminade pay. The offense needed nine plays to go ahead 14-7 when Eatherton scored from the 1-yard line.

The key play in the drive came on a 31-yard run by Eatherton to move the ball to the Chaminade 10. A tackle by junior Weaver momentarily saved a touchdown.

Weaver had put Chaminade in good field position with a 69-yard kickoff return to the Vianney 31. Three plays later, the fumble happened, giving Vianney the ball.

Tied at halftime

The Red Devils scored with 59 seconds remaining to send the teams into intermission tied 14-14.

Chaminade began the drive on its 39 but two penalties made it first-and-20. On the second play, Madden Irving caught a 28-yard pass from junior quarterback Weiler.

Weaver got behind the Vianney defense scored a 38-yard catch-and-run touchdown.