Devante Palacio sets new CHS receiving yards record of 1,495 yards with his performance at DuQuoin
By Jim Beers
CHESTER – The Chester YellowJackets made the trip to former River-to-River, Mississippi Division foes, the DuQuoin Indians, on Friday August 30 to kick off the 2024 football season. The Indians remain in the River-to-River Conference, but the Jackets have seen two new conferences since leaving the River-to-River.
Chester moved to the Black Diamond Conference and is now in the Cahokia Conference. The Jackets compete in the Illinois Division. This season Chester will face two former River-to-River teams including DuQuoin, last week, and Pinckneyville for the CHS home opener this Friday September 6th.
When facing DuQuoin, the YellowJackets have historically struggled against the perennial football powerhouse. The last time that Chester won against DuQuoin was the year 2000. Going into the game Friday night, most Jacket fans were somewhat tentative.
Coach Billy Belton and his 2024 YellowJackets had other ideas, however, and went to DuQuoin with confidence and determination. The fact that they played well against Carbondale Friday August 23 during the annual football scrimmage may have helped to bolster that confidence level. The YellowJackets opened the game against the Indians in the first quarter of the game at DuQuoin with a touchdown and never looked back!
Chester was first to receive in the opening frame of the game and scored their first touchdown at the 7:54 mark after controlling the opening drive with three first downs. They culminated that first possession with a 1-yard touchdown run by junior Ethan Colvis. Karim Landeros kicked the extra point and CHS led, 7-0.
The Orange Crush YellowJacket defense held DuQuoin for the duration of its first possession. Facing 4-and-12 at the 2:42 mark, CHS foiled an Indian desperation 4th down attempt and forced a DuQuoin turnover on downs. Chester led, 7-0 after one quarter of play!
CHS had the ball to start the second quarter and used three first downs to get the ball to the Indian 23-yard line at the 9:22 mark. In that drive, Zain Al-Jassim threw completed passes to both Tray Peters and Kolton Jany, followed by a Kolton Jany run.
The Jacket drive stalled temporarily after an illegal procedure call against CHS. At the 8:54 mark, the Jackets faced 1-and-15, 2-and-15, and 3-15, before Al-Jassim got the ball to Kolton Jany who scored a touchdown 32-yard touchdown pass. Tray Peters ran for the two-point conversion and Chester led, 15-0 with 7:22 to play in the first half.
On DuQuoin’s next possession the Jacket defense once again stood firm and held the Indians to just six plays. A DQ holding penalty gave the Indians a 2-and-18 situation at the 7:00 mark. Chester then gave DQ five yards on a short run making it 3-and-15. On the final play from scrimmage, the Jackets threw the Indians for a 2-yard loss making it 4-and-15. This time DuQuoin decided to punt with 5:10 to play in the half.
Chester took over at the 5:05 mark and wasted little time. CHS ran just five plays in 45-seconds to score a third touchdown at the 3:58 mark on a 15-yard Kolton Jany run. Karim Landeros’ kick was good and Chester led, 22-0.
Just when all was looking dim for DuQuoin, the Indians broke loose with a huge 49-yard touchdown run on their first play from scrimmage. It just took 15-seconds off the clock. DuQuoin’s extra-point kick failed, but the TD put DQ on the scoreboard to trail, 22-6 with 3:43 to play in the half.
On the ensuing kickoff, Chester fumbled the ball and DuQuoin managed to recover on the Chester 32-yard line. DQ ran the ball to the 23-yard line at 3:05. On the next play, Chester’s Alex Williamson, a senior defensive lineman, sacked the DQ quarterback for a 3-yard loss with just 2:33 remaining.
Kolton Jany stopped the next Indian run and the Indians threw an incomplete pass. Facing a 4-and-18 situation and only 1:17 to play in the first half, the gutsy Indians threw a desperation pass which was caught for a touchdown at the 1:12 mark. The 2-point conversion was good.
Just like that, DuQuoin had come from behind from a 22-0 deficit, to trail by only 8 points, 22-14 at halftime. DuQuoin scored a pair of touchdowns in the final 3:38 of the first half, giving them new life and confidence. Not to mention they would get the ball to start the seconds half!
Apparently the Indians had a pretty influential pow-wow during halftime because they came out fired-up and full of determination to start the second half. On the opening kickoff they ran the ball to the 39 yard line.
On the first play from scrimmage, DuQuoin scored their third touchdown of the game on a 61-yard run in only six-seconds. They attempted a 2-point conversion which the Jackets spoiled, but with the TD, DuQuoin got within two points, 22-20, at the 11:54 mark.
The YellowJackets returned the favor on their next possession. On the kickoff they ran the ball to the 33 yard line. Four plays later, Ethan Colvis scored Chester’s fourth touchdown of the game, the first of the second half, on a 51 yard pass from Zain Al-Jassim. Karim Landeros kicked the extra-point at the Jackets were up by nine points, 29-20, with 10:03 left in the third quarter.
The knock-down-drag-out contest continued with the Indian’s next possession. To start with, the Indians returned the ball to the 44 yard line on the Chester kickoff. Sixteen plays later DuQuoin struck again with a 4-yard touchdown.
This drive burned up six minutes and 46 seconds. The extra-point kick was good and once again the Indians were within two points, 29-27, with 3:11 to play in the third period.
The remainder of the third quarter was a defensive battle with DuQuoin holding Chester to four plays and a punt, and CHS held the Indians to three plays as the clock ran out ending the third quarter. Chester led, 29-27.
The Indians started the final stretch with the ball on the 32-yard line. DQ ran two plays making it to the 23 yard line, but CHS made a great stop for a 2-yard loss. With 9:14 left in the game, DQ called time out with just 1-second left on the clock to avoid a delay of game penalty. The Indians faced 4-and-5.
Following the time out, the Indians decided to go for it on 4th down and attempted a pass. Chester almost sacked the quarterback causing an incomplete pass. DuQuoin was forced to turn the ball over on downs to Chester with 9:10 remaining in the game.
CHS Coach Billy Belton and YellowJacket quarterback Zain Al-Jassim then started a 15-play drive that resulted in five first downs and burned up all but 1:30 of the clock. On Chester’s final play of the drive, Chester’s Tray Peters ran the ball four yards into the end zone for Chester’s fifth touchdown of the contest. The 2-point conversion failed, however, CHS extended its lead to 35-27.
The YellowJacket defense stood firm during the final minute of the game to secure the win for Jackets and start the season, 1-0.
In the win, CHS ran 56 plays and DQ ran 61. The Jackets accumulated 363 yards while the Indians recorded 348. Chester’s Al-Jassim threw for 208 yards and DQ threw for 121 yards. The Jackets had 155 rushing yards while the Indians ran for 227 yards.
Chester had 90% efficiency on third downs (9-10) and DQ was 3-13 (23%). Each team committed just one turnover, both on fumbles, and neither team threw an interception. The Jackets had eight penalties and DuQuoin had three penalties.
For the game, Chester’s Zain Al-Jassim completed 11-of-16 passes (69%) for 208 yards and one touchdown. DQ was 12-for 19 in passing (63%) for 121 yards and 1 touchdown.
Chester’s Ethan Colvis scored two touchdowns for the Jackets (1 yard run and 50-yard pass). Kolton Jany scored two touchdowns (32 yard pass and 15-yard run). Tray Peters scored on a 4-yard run. Karin Landeros kicked three extra points. Tray Peters scored a 2-point conversion.
In the receiving category, Devante Palacio caught three passes for 54 yards. He was just four yards from breaking the all-time CHS receiving yards record. Palacio therefor shattered that record with his 54 yards receiving against DuQuoin.
The former record was set by Jim Howie in 1983-1984 of 1,488 yards from pass receptions. That record stood since then until Devante Palacio surpassed that number with his performance against DuQuoin Friday August 30, 2024 when he set the new record of 1,495 receiving yards.
Kolton Jany caught three passes for 48 yards and one touchdown. Ethan Colvis caught two passes for 62 yards and one touchdown. Brenden Malley caught two passes for 29 yards, and Justin Hayman caught one pass for 15 yards.
Chester’s defensive unit was tough throughout the game. The Jackets had 24 solo tackles and 42 tackle assists. Kolton Jany recorded 5 solos and 4 assists and Justin Hayman had 5 solos. Gene Bicket had 3 solos and 2 assists. All three are seniors. Kolton Jany recovered a DuQuoin Indian fumble.
Coach Billy Belton said, “Coach Eggemeyer did a great job with the defense! The defense was flying around making big plays. To finish the game the defense was on the field to hold the Indians scoreless. That was awesome!”
“Coach Riggio and Coach Mueller did a great job with the offensive line! The last drive we had on offense was really impressive. The O-line really finished the game for the win!”
“Coach Colvis did a great job with the special teams unit. They had several play-makers and we kept the ball out of DuQuoin’s hands all night. These boys were flying around and hitting throughout the game.”
“I am so proud of our boys! This was the hardest I have seen them play. Zain Al-Jassim did a great job of managing the game late. He had another big day with 208 passing yards and two touchdowns. He was 9-of-10 on third downs which was very impressive!”
“Kolton Jany had a great game with a total of 116 yards, 68 rushing and 48 receiving. Add to that a pair of touchdowns, one running and one receiving. His tackle on defense to end the game was one of the best I have even seen!”
Belton concluded by saying, “This was a true team win! Everyone from sophomores to seniors contributed. We had a variety of players contribute throughout the game at critical moments!”
“Colvis’ two touchdowns, Tray Peters touchdown at the end of that big 4th quarter drive, Devante Palacio making big plays. Hayman’s big run on the last drive. Malley had a couple of huge catches. It was just a big team performance!”
Chester will host its home opener Friday September 6 at 7:00 p.m. at W.O. Smith Field when the Pinckneyville Panthers come to town.
Photos:
Chester Wide Receiver Devante Palacio (9), a 6’3″, 195 lb. senior, set a new CHS record for receiving yards Friday August 30 when the YellowJackets won, 35-27, at DuQuoin. In the win, which was the first against DuQuoin since the year 2000, Palacio caught three passes for a total of 54 yards. In accomplishing that goal, he also broke a record set by Chester’s Jim Howie when he played for the Jackets. During the 1983-1984 seasons Howie accumulated a career high 1,488 reception yards. That high stood until Palacio surpassed that career high with a total of 1,495 career receptions from his high school career from 2022-the present. Palacio has at least eight regular-season games left in his senior year at CHS. Jim Beers Photo
Kolton Jany (8), a senior CHS running back, was one of Chester’s key players in the 35-27 wi9n over the DuQuoin Indians Friday August 30 at DuQuoin. Jany, at 5’11” and 185 lbs., scored two touchdowns in the victor, one a 32-yard TD pass play from CHS Quarterback, Zain Al-Jassim, and the other one on a 15-yard run. He also made a monster tackle at the end of the game to help stop a potential DuQuoin score that could have led to a tied game. Jim Beers Photo
Ethan Colvis (25) a 6’1″, 195 lb. junior running back, scored Chester’s first touchdown of the 2024 season Friday August 30 on a 1-yard run at the 7:54 mark of the first quarter. He later scored the fourth touchdown of the game and the season when he scored on a 50-yard touchdown pass from CHS senior quarterback Zain Al-Jassim at he 10:03 mark of the third quarter to extend Chester’s lead to 28-20. His efforts greatly helped the YellowJackets secure the 35-27 win at DuQuoin. Jim Beers Photo