YellowJackets get back-to-back shut-outs with win over Warriors
By Jim Beers, Contributing Writer
CHESTER – Last week the Chester YellowJackets earned their first win of 2022 after starting the season with three losses. CHS fell in the season opener to the Indians at DuQuoin, 26-0 in Week 1. They then came home to open the home portion of their 9-game schedule with a 54-6 loss to the Benton Rangers. In Week 3 the Jackets went to Freeburg and lost, 28-6 to the Midgets.
Week 4 brought a welcomed first victory of the season at home when the Sparta Bulldogs came to W.O. Smith Field and faced a 32-0 shut-out at the hands of the YellowJackets. That score apparently got stuck in the minds of the Chester players as they traveled to Trenton-Wesclin Friday September 23 and shut them out, 32-0, on their own field.
CHS Head Coach, Billy Belton said, “Trenton-Wesclin was a good team. The first half was tight! Both defenses were playing well and at halftime, we had managed just two touchdowns. It was a real battle! Defensive Coach Curt Eggemeyer is doing a great job with the defense!”
In the opening quarter, CHS quarterback, Zain Al-Jassim hit Devante Palacio with a huge 53-yard pass for Chester’s first score. The extra point kick failed and Chester led, 6-0 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Chester’s Will Schuwerk, a 5’11”, 175 Lb. senior running back, scored the first of his three touchdowns for the night when he ran it in from 3-yards out. The Jacket’s two-point conversion was no good, but Chester led 12-0 at the half.
“Our offensive line played really well in the second half! They took over in the second half and they opened up the lanes for our running backs. Will Schuwerk scored back-to-back touchdowns in the third, giving him three TD’s in-a-row for the game”, said Coach Belton.
Schuwerk scored the first touchdown of the 3rd quarter by catching a 34-yard pass from Zain Al-Jassim, the 6’0”, 195 Lb., sophomore YellowJacket quarterback, to give CHS 18 points. The two-point conversion failed, but the Jackets led, 18-0, early in the third.
Schuwerk struck again a bit later on a 44-yard run giving him his second touchdown of the third quarter and his third in the game. The YellowJackets attempted a two-point conversion which failed, but CHS led, 24-0.
Chester wasn’t done yet, however, as Zain Al-Jassim hit Devante Palacio on a 7-yard pass to give Chester its third touchdown of the 3rd quarter and Palacio’s second touchdown pass of the game.
For the fourth time in the game, Coach Billy Belton went for the two-point conversion! This time the YellowJackets converted and upped their score to 32 points and a comfortable, 32-0 lead to end the third quarter.
Down the stretch both defenses held strong and neither team scored in the final period. Chester won, 32-0 and took home its second shut-out win in two weeks.
Shane Bicket and Matt James
Coach Billy Belton said, “Our defense played well tonight! Shane Bicket and Matt James were tough on the inside all night. Between them they had nine solo tackles, six tackle assists, two sacks and five tackles for a loss! Add to that, Trentin Eggemeyer gave us four solo tackles, five tackle assists, one sack, and one tackle for a loss!”
In the win. The Jackets ran a total of 64 plays. Trenton-Wesclin ran 59 plays. The YellowJackets had a total of 380 yards for the night; 217 passing and 163 rushing. The “Orange Crush” defense held the Warriors to a total of 137 yards, 83 in the air and 54 on the ground.
CHS was 4-11 (36%) for third down efficiency vs Trenton-Wesclin’s 1-12 (8%). On 4th down, Chester was 2-for-3 (67%) and the Warriors were 2-for-7 (29%). Both teams had one turnover apiece. Chester had an interception while Trenton-Wesclin had a lost fumble. The YellowJackets had 12 penalties for 70 yards while Trenton-Wesclin had 4 penalties for 38 yards.
Zain Al-Jassim threw 19 passes in the win connecting for 10 (52.6%) with 217 yards, 3 touchdowns and one interception. WHS threw 22 times completing just seven (31.8%).
Chester rushed for a total of 163 yards for the night. The Jackets were led by Will Schuwerk who ran 12 times for 116 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught a touchdown pass for 34 yards.
Coach Belton commented regarding Will Schuwerk’s success the last two games saying, “This was Will’s second game in-a-row that he has scored three touchdowns. Last year we were loaded with good backs, so Will didn’t see as much prime time, however, we did know that he had the capability to be very explosive. This year he is getting the looks to shine and he is proving his capability!”
Kolton Jany ran six times for 29 yards. Garret Hopkins ran 3 times for 19 yards. As a team, the YellowJackets had 163 rushing yards in the win.
Trenton-Wesclin had a total of 54 rushing yards. C. Robinson ran 23 times and the Jacket defense held him to just 37 yards. The rest of the Trenton-Wesclin team accumulated a total of 17 yards on nine carries.
It was another great night for the YellowJackets in the air as CHS recorded a total of 217 yards passing. CHS sophomore quarterback, Zain Al-Jassim, threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns against WHS and last week against Sparta he threw for 131 yards for a total of 348 yards in two games. Against Freeburg he threw for 322 yards in one night!
“The last time that I can remember that a YellowJacket quarterback achieved more than 300 yards in a game was back in 2014 when Nick Meyer had a 342- yard passing game against Edwards County”, said Coach Belton.
Devante Palacio led the team in receptions catching five passes for a total of 125 yards and two touchdowns. Will Schuwerk caught one pass for 34 yards and one touchdown. Aden Runge caught one pass for 16 yards and Kolton Jany had one pass for 12 yards. Rounding out the YellowJacket receiving corps was Gage Hopkins who caught one pass for nine yards.
Coach Belton bragged on the YellowJacket defense and noted that for the game, the Jackets recorded 35 solo tackles, 29 tackle assists, five quarterback sacks, and 10 tackles for a loss.
Senior Matt James had 5 solo tackles, 3 tackle assists and 3 tackles for a loss. Shane Bicket, a senior, recorded 4 solo tackles, 3 tackle assists, 2 sacks and 2 tackles for a loss. Koby Jany, a senior, had 5 solos, 2 assists, and 1 tackle for a loss.
Junior Trentin Eggemeyer recorded 4 solos, 5 assists, 1 sack and 1 tackle for a loss. Garret Hopkins added 2 solos, 3 assists, 1 sack and 1 tackle for a loss. Junior Nate Heuer contributed 2 solos, 2 assists, 1 sack and 1 tackle for a loss.
Finally, the “Orange Crush” defense was complete with 2 solos and 2 assists from junior Braxton Conder. Seven other YellowJackets grabbed one solo tackle including Kolton Jany, Branden Whitley, Aden Runge, Gavin Cowan, Gene Bicket, Lannin Caron, Korbin Jany, Gage Hopkins, and Cayden Brunkhorst. Nate Heuer recovered the one Warrior fumble.
Next up for the YellowJackets will be Carlyle High School Friday September 30. The Indians will challenge the Jackets on Homecoming 2022 with a kickoff at 7:00 p.m.
Coach Belton said, “We have to hope that Homecoming does not distract us this week. We have to keep going with what we have been doing the past two weeks. Carlyle is a good team that is fast. We must stay the course!”
With the win, Chester improves to 2-3 overall and undefeated at 2-0 in the Cahokia Conference race. The YellowJackets look to even their record at 3-3 on Homecoming night and in the process improve their undefeated run at 3-0 in the Cahokia Conference.