CREVE COEUR – Madden Irving had not taken any direct snaps this season.
The Chaminade junior running back was enjoying a fine season by accepting handoffs from other players and finding holes to run through.
But injuries and struggles at quarterback placed Irving in an unfamiliar role on Thursday, accepting shotgun snaps in the ‘wildcat’ formation.
“We just installed that this week. It was very new for me, first time doing it in a game. I just had to go with the flow,” Irving said.
Irving flowed to the tune of 34 carries for 323 yards and two touchdowns in leading Chaminade to a 48-37 victory over Lutheran St. Charles Thursday at Don Ohlms Field in the regular season finale for both teams.
Chaminade (4-5), which won for the fourth time in its last five games, also received 209 yards rushing and three touchdowns from sophomore Kai Robinson, part of a 589-yard ground attack for the Red Devils.
“We just leaned on what we’ve done great, which is run the ball,” said Chaminade coach Antoine Torrey, who won his 100th game earlier this season in a Sept. 22 victory over Soldan.
Irving already had eclipsed 200 yards rushing when Chaminade took possession while clinging to a 35-31 lead late in the third quarter. He accepted a handoff from sophomore Wyn Weiler, made a slick move in the hole and raced 73 yards through the Lutheran St. Charles secondary for a touchdown.
It was the only time he carried the ball when it was not directly snapped to him.
“Actually, the play was to the other side and I had to cut it back. That was my biggest run of the season and I’m just glad I didn’t get caught at the end. I got scared for a second,” said Irving, who rushed for 251 yards in the Red Devils’ 41-24 win against Gateway STEM one week earlier.
Lutheran St. Charles (3-6) created its share of explosive plays, and when senior Jamar Cross Jr. caught a swing pass out of the backfield and raced 77 yards, it cut the Cougars’ deficit to 42-37 early in the fourth quarter.
It was the fourth touchdown for Cross, who scored three rushing touchdowns in the first half.
But midway through the fourth quarter, Chaminade generated its longest, most impressive drive when it mattered most.
This time Robinson was the workhorse, gaining 55 yards on an 11-play, 75-yard drive that he sealed with a 12-yard touchdown run around left end with 1 minute 31 seconds remaining.
“When I got in the hole, it was closed and I had to bounce it outside,” Robinson said. “When I scored, I knew it was over.”
The outcome was very much in question during a wild first half filled with explosive plays and turbulent emotions.
A long kickoff return by Chaminade sophomore Steven Dyson set up Robinson for a 17-yard scoring burst just 2 minutes 13 seconds into the game.
Irving’s first touchdown run, a ‘wildcat’ burst up the middle built a 21-12 lead for the Red Devils.
But the pinpoint accuracy of Lutheran St. Charles sophomore quarterback Santana Barnes brought the Cougars back. A beautiful 34-yard connection to senior Kaleb Mays down the right sideline set up a short touchdown run by Cross.
On the next possession, Mays out-leaped a defender for 27 yards and senior Jayshawn Richmond caught a Barnes dart for 43 yards, setting up another short burst by Cross and a 25-21 Lutheran St. Charles lead.
Barnes went 17-of-25 for 342 yards, spreading the ball to six different receivers.
“We’ve got warriors in the trenches going on both (offense and defense). We can’t do half the stuff that we do without those guys up front, and when you get 300 passing yards, that means they gave our QB time to throw,” Lutheran St. Charles coach Melvin Bethany said.
The Red Devils already had exhausted their timeouts when they moved into field goal range near the end of the half, but they mismanaged the clock and came away with no points.
“That’s been the case all season. We’re a young team, a sophomore group primarily, and we’ve made those kinds of mistakes where we just need to understand the situation,” Torrey said.
To add insult to the end-of-half miscue, Chaminade was assessed two penalties after the buzzer and had to kick off from its own 10-yard line to begin the second half.
Mays caught the shortened kick, raced 63 yards to the end zone and Lutheran St. Charles had a 31-21 lead 11 seconds into the third quarter.
But the Chaminade offensive line imposed its will in the second half, and Irving and Robinson were the beneficiaries.
“It took a little while for us to get rolling, but we found the groove,” senior offensive lineman Kyle Russell said.
And Chaminade certainly has found its groove, winning four of its last five games as it prepares to take on a strong Class 5 District 2 field headlined by Summit (8-0) beginning next week.
“We’ve become closer as a team,” said Russell, a captain. “We’ve built chemistry and we’ve figured out what we can do to succeed.”
That seems to be putting the ball in Irving’s hands, however it gets there.