Kolton Jany scores first 3 touchdowns of the game as Jackets shut out Tigers on Homecoming night
By Jim Beers
CHESTER – Homecoming 2023 couldn’t have been much better as the Chester YellowJacket shut out the Dupo Tigers, 49-0, to improve to 4-3 overall and remain undefeated at 3-0 in the Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division.
Kolton Jany scored Chester’s first three touchdowns of the game, two in the first quarter and one to start the second quarter, to lead the Jackets in their 49-point scoring effort.
CHS senior Aden Runge (2), a 6’1″ 185 Lb. quarterback/running back/free safety/linebacker had a great homecoming game Friday October 6 as he scored a touchdown at the 6;56 mark of the second quarter. Runge bulldozed it in from the 1-yardline.to give Chester its 4th TD of the game and extend the YellowJacket lead to 28-0. Jim Beers Photo
Aden Runge and Korbin Jany each scored touchdowns in the second period while CHS quarterback, Zain Al-Jassim ended the first half with a touchdown of his own on a 6-yard quarterback-keeper to end the first half. Chester led, 42-0, at halftime.
The YellowJackets weren’t done yet, however, as Devante Palacio put the icing on the cake in the third quarter with a 62-yard touchdown pass from Zain Al-Jassim.
Chester kicker, Karim Landeros, a freshman, was perfect for the night kicking 7-of-7 extra points to top-off the seven touchdown effort by the YellowJackets.
In the homecoming win, Chester accumulated a total of 456 yards for the evening. 294 yards were from the passing expertise of Zain Al-Jassim with his dynamite corps of receivers. The other 162 yards came from the very determined and talented YellowJacket running backs.
For the evening, CHS ran 50 plays and recorded 14 first downs. The Jackets were 5-of-8 on 3rd downs (63%). Chester played a good game with no turnovers. It was, however, a penalty-heavy game with Chester committing nine such offenses.
Dupo ran 54 plays for a total of 148 yards, 135 from the air and just 13 rushing. The Tigers earned 11 first downs and were 1-of-8 (13%) regarding 3rd down efficiency. They were 2-of-5 (40%) on 4th down efficiency.
The Tigers had two turnovers, 1 fumble and 1 interception. They committed 11 penalties for 75 yards.
The following is a summary of how the game proceeded:
1st Quarter: CHS 14 – Dupo 0
Dupo won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff to start the game. The first two minutes included a Dupo false start, a Chester tackle for a 3-yard loss, a Sack of Dupo’s quarterback and corresponding fumble, and CHS was called for a 15-yard face mask penalty.
Chester’s Devante Palacio then broke up a huge potential pass play that could have been a big blow to the YellowJackets. As a result, Dupo was forced to punt facing 4-and-10. The Jackets had the ball for four downs and had to punt.
On Dupo’s next possession the Jacket defense played tough and dished out two tackles for a loss as Gene Bicket, Alex Williamson and Nate Heuer stood tall for CHS. A Chester off-sides penalty gave the Tigers a 5-yard advantage, but facing 4-2 with 6:39 to play in the first quarter, Dupo was forced to punt for the second time in two possessions.
On Chester’s second possession, the Jacket offense came alive. Devante Palacio returned the punt to the Chester 34 yard line. Kolton Jany and Devante Palacio got CHS a first down. On the next play, Chester Quarterback, Zain Al-Jassim connected with Kolton Jany for a 57-yard touchdown pass. Karim Landeros kicked his first of seven extra points for the evening and Chester led, 7-0 at the 4:06 mark.
On the ensuing kickoff, Dupo fumbled the ball, however, Dupo’s Nick Phillips recovered the ball. On the first play from scrimmage, Ashton Stein was handed a 2-yard loss by Chester’s Trentin Eggemeyer and Alex Williamson.
Quarterback Deegan Prater then connected with Vance Ray for an 8-yard pass. Dupo and Chester then exchanged penalties, the Tigers for a false start and the Jackets for roughing the passer, giving the Tigers a first down with 2:24 to play.
Gage Hopkins broke up a Deegan Prater pass attempt to Nick Phillips and a second pass attempt was incomplete. An illegal motion penalty was then called on the Tigers which Chester Coach, Billy Belton declined. Two plays later the Jacket defense forced a turnover on downs giving the YellowJackets the ball with 1:04 left in the 1st quarter.
Dupo thwarted Chester’s first two plays as the clock ticked down. With under 30-seconds remaining, Zain Al-Jassim found Kolton Jany once again, this time for a 70-yard touchdown pass. It was Jany’s second T.D. of the first quarter and gave CHS a 13-0 lead. Karim Landeros kicked his second extra point and Chester led, 14-0.
Chester kicked off to Dupo with just a few seconds left on the clock. Gage Hopkins stopped the kickoff return and on Dupo’s first play from scrimmage, Chester’s Devante Palacio intercepted a Deegan Prater’s pass to end the first quarter. Chester led, 14-0 after one quarter of play.
2nd Quarter: CHS 42 – Dupo 0
The Jackets had the ball to start the second quarter. Just 11-seconds later, Kolton Jany scored his third touchdown of the game on a 9-yard run. Karim Landeros kicked his third extra point of the game and Chester led, 21-0 at the 11:49 mark.
The CHS kickoff went out of bounds for a penalty. On the first play from scrimmage Chester was called for an off-sides penalty. On the next play, a swarm of YellowJackets caught Tiger fullback Ashton Stein for a tackle, but not before an 8-yard gain.
The Jacket defense then got tough and held Dupo for the next five plays forcing the Tigers to punt at the 9:40 mark.
On Chester’s next possession, Kolton Jany and Devante Palacio gave the Jackets first downs on a six yard run and an 8-yard pass. Kolton Jany then ran the ball all the way to the 1-yard line, knocking on the Tiger’s front door.
Two plays later, Chester’s Aden Runge scored the Jacket’s fourth touchdown of the night at the 6:56 mark on a 2-yard touchdown effort. Karim Landeros hit his fourth extra point of the game and the YellowJackets led, 28-0.
On the kickoff, CHS was called for a face mask penalty. The Jacket defense then held Dupo to 4-and-out and the Tigers were forced to punt at the 5:44 mark.
CHS started on their own 46-yard line. Facing 2-and-10, CHS quarterback Zain Al-Jassim sent a huge pass to Korbin Jany, a senior tight end. Jany caught the pass and made it to the 4-yard line. He then carried and was thrown for a one-yard loss.
Facing 2-and-5, Korbin ran it in for Chester’s fifth touchdown of the game at the 4:28 mark. Karim Landeros kicked his fifth extra point of the first half and the YellowJackets led, 35-0.
On the kickoff, Chester’s Gene Bicket put a quick stop to Dupo’s return attempt by Connor Ballard. The Tigers then proceeded to achieve three first downs and appeared to be on their way to a possible touchdown.
With 3:06 left in the half the Tigers were on Chester’s 37-yard line with a 1st-and-10. Dupo quarterback Deegan Prater then attempted a touchdown pass which was intercepted by Chester’s Nate Maes, a 6’1”, 20 Lb. defensive lineman, giving the Jackets the ball back on the Chester 42-yardline with 3:00 remaining in the first half.
On the first play from scrimmage, Korbin Jany caught a nice pass for a 22-yard gain. CHS had the ball on the Dupo 40-yardline with 2:41 to play. Gage Hopkins gave the Jackets nine yards on a hard run. Facing 2-and-1 on the 11 yard line, Aden Runge ran for another CHS first down.
Three plays later, Chester’s quarter-back Zain Al-Jassim, facing 3-and goal, decided to take matters into his own hands and ran it in for a 6-yard touchdown, Chester’s 6th of the game. Karim Landeros maintained his perfect kicking record for the game and added his 6th extra point. Chester extended its lead to CHS 42-Dupo 0.
The Jacket defense held the Tigers on their final possession of the first half and took a 42-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.
3rd Quarter: CHS 49-Dupo 0
To start the second half, Chester received the opening kickoff and Kolton Jany took the kick. On the second play from scrimmage, Zain Al-Jassim found Devante Palacio open and hit him with a fantastic pass. Palacio proceeded to score Chester’s 7th touchdown of the game on a 62-yard sprint. Not to be outdone, Karim Landeros kicked his 7th extra point of the game and the Jackets led, 49-0.
On Dupo’s next possession the YellowJacket defense continued to constantly harass the Tiger offense. Big plays by Denis Vasquez and Braxton Conder kept the Tigers in check. Facing 2-and-10 the Tigers made a great catch of a Deegan Prater pass, however, on the tackle, they fumbled the ball and Braxton Conder recovered it to give the ball back to Chester at the 6:15 mark.
The Jackets had the ball to close out the 3rd quarter. Cayden Brunkhorst, Gene Bicket, Tray Peters, Justin Hayman, and Logan Jausel took the helm and ran the offense. CHS led, 49-0 after three quarters of play.
4th Quarter: CHS 49-Dupo 0
Dupo had the ball to start the final quarter. There was a continuous clock throughout the last period because Chester had a 49-0 lead.
The YellowJacket defense took control right away and Braxton Conder and Cayden Brunkhorst helped to force a Tiger turnover on downs after five plays. There was 9:06 remaining in the game.
Chester took over at the 8:14 mark. Cayden Brunkhorst had a first down on the first play from scrimmage. Gene Bicket reached another first down at the 6:23 mark. Landon Caron carried for three yards and added another four yards two plays later. Justin Hayman and Tray Peters both ran to close out the possession at the 3:45 mark, but Chester had to punt facing 4-and-8.
The Tigers had success on the first three plays of the final possession of the game, but Chester’s Justin Hayman put a stop to their hot run by breaking up their final pass attempt before the buzzer sounded. Chester succeeded in shutting out the Tigers, 49-0.
In summary, Zain Al-Jassim connected on 7-of-10 passes (70%) for 294 yards and 3 touchdowns. His receiving corps included Kolton Jany (3 receptions for 133 yards and 2 touchdowns); Devante Palacio (2 receptions for 81 yards and 1 touchdown); and Korbin Jany (2 receptions for 80 yards).
The YellowJacket defense was huge in the win over Dupo. The Jackets recorded 24 solo tackles, 33 tackle assists, 3 quarterback sacks, and 3 tackles for a loss. Individual stats include: Gene Bicket (4 solos); Nate Heuer (3 solos, 5 assists, 2 sacks, 1 TFL); Devante Palacio (3 solos); Cayden Brunkhorst (2 solos, 2 assists); Justin Hayman (2 sols, 2 assists); Jack Heffernan (2 solos, 2 assists); Kolton Jany (1 solo, 2 assists); Denis Vasquez-Hernandez (1 solo, 6 assists); Trentin Eggemeyer (1 solo, 3 assists, 1 sack, 1 TFL); Gage Hopkins (1 solo); Nate Maes (1 solo, 1 assist); Morgan Miers (1 solo); Logan Jausel (1 assist); Trevor Keeton (2 assists); Ethan Colvis (2 assists); Alex Williamson (3 assists).
Karim Landeros kicked off 9 times for 329 yards. Landeros also kicked 7 extra points for an unblemished night of perfect kicking.
Billy Belton, CHS Head Coach, said, “The boys played a great game. Korbin and Kolton Jany had great games. The defense played great. Nate Heuer had another big night. I am very proud of our boys and hard they have played the past four games!”
“Zain had another big night connecting for 7-of-10 passes and 3 touchdowns. He had 294 yards passing. Kolton Jany had 3 touchdowns, 2 receiving and 1 rushing. I thought the offense was pretty explosive with 3 scoring plays over 50 yards. That’s always nice!”
“We have played great in the last four games. We are playing really well at the right time of year.”
The YellowJackets have two more regular-season games. This Friday October 13 the Jackets travel to Red Bud for what could determine the Cahokia Conference Illinois Division Championship. Currently CHS is undefeated in conference play at 3-0 and 4-3 overall.
The final game of the regular season is Friday October 20 at Chester’s W.O. Smith Field when the Jackets host Warrensburg-Latham on Senior Night.
Aden Runge (2) (left) and Kolton Jany (8) right) celebrate with a “Happy Dance” Chester’s first of seven touchdowns of the night Friday October 6 when the YellowJackets hosted Dupo in a Cahokia Conference matchup on Chester’s Homecoming. Jany had just scored on a 57-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Zain Al-Jasim at the 4:06 mark of the first quarter on Chester’s second possession of the game. Jany would go on to score twice more in the first half, again with 30-seconds left in the first quarter and again just 11-seconds into the second quarter. The Jackets won, 49-0 to improve to 4-3 overall and 3-0 in the Cahokia Conference Illinois Division. Jim Beers Photo
Chester’s Karim Landeros, a freshman kicker for the YellowJackets, watches as his 6th extra point kick of the night goes through the uprights at the Chester vs Dupo Homecoming game Friday October 6. For the night Landeros was a perfect 7-for-7 on his extra point attempts and he further made nine kick-offs for a total of 329 yards.
Members of the Chester YellowJackets and Dupo Tigers face off with referees and Head Coaches for the pre-game coin toss Friday October 6 at the 2023 CHS Homecoming game. From left to right the YellowJacket contingent includes seniors Korbin Jany (12), Aden Runge (2), Nate Heuer (52), and Lannin Caron (4). To the right is CHS Head Coach Billy Belton. Dupo won the toss and elected to receive to start the game. Jim Beers Photo