Vianney, Diffley Lose Rivalry Showdown Against Focused Chaminade

Practice was a little different for the Chaminade football team in preparing for Week 3 opponent and Metro Catholic Conference rival .

“Beating coach Diffley, that was our main goal,” Chaminade senior quarterback Logan Hutson said of Vianney coach Mike Diffley, who left as Chaminade’s offensive coordinator last year after eight seasons.

The Red Devils defeated visiting Vianney and Diffley, 27-0, Friday to win the Marianist Cup in the MCC opener for both teams.

The victory also extends Chaminade’s winning streak over Vianney (1-2, 0-1) to three games.

“Diff was with us for eight years,” Chaminade coach Doug Taylor said. “He was our offensive coordinator for five and did a great job. It was fun practicing this week because we ran our plays against us, and then we ran our plays against us.

“And after the game, all of our players went over to hug him. He’s a great guy and a great coach. He’s going to get it going over there.”

Chaminade senior back Dixon Anthon had no trouble getting going. The 5-foot-7, 175-pounder had 90 of his 159 yards and three touchdowns in the first half. He scored on runs of 24, three and one.

“It was all the line,” said Anthon, who has 11 TDs this season. “This is a grudge match so we all came out ready to move the ball and that’s what we did ... came out strong in the first quarter.”

In an effort to take Vianney away from a run defense, Hutson was 7-for-15 passing for 81 yards. It was a season high for attempts and seven completions doubles his season total.

“We controlled the field position, which allowed us to run what we wanted to run,” said Taylor, whose team had 14 first-half first downs to Vianney’s two. “We didn’t have to open up too much, and when we did throw the ball we threw it very effectively. We didn’t throw it down the field real far, but we got first downs when we had to.”

Chaminade converted on fourth down twice, turning both drives into first half TDs.

With a 20-0 lead at halftime, the Red Devils (3-0, 1-0) have outscored opponents 112-6 in the first half this season.

“One thing we’ll focus on when we look back at the film is that the defense did a good job and for the most part, they kept us in the game,” Diffley said. “We didn’t help them a whole lot with field position on the offensive side. We couldn’t get our motor going.”

Vianney sophomore back Markel Smith, who had 364 yards going into Friday’s game, struggled to get going other than a 64-yard scamper to start the second quarter.

He finished with 99 yards on 20 carries.

“In large part, it was their defense,” Diffley said. “They did a great job, great scheme. They brought a lot of pressure. But you have to remember, this is new to us. We have a lot of guys trying to figure it out and it’s difficult to figure it out when they’re bringing pressure that they were bringing.”  

The new portion is Diffley’s offensive scheme. Much of the terminology is new and the blocking schemes are completely different.

“We’re in a transition time,” he said. “We’re going from a spread offense to an offense that is heavy in the run.

“When we get into a situation where you’re playing Chaminade, which has been doing this for the last eight years now— their kids have been with this system, same language, same everything for six years, seven years in some cases,” Diffley continued.

“This is the first year our kids are dealing with a lot of these things.”

In the second half, Chaminade had a punt return for a TD and kickoff return for a TD called back on penalties, preventing the game from being a blow out.