Al-Jassim uses 228-yard passing game to score 4 touchdowns; Landeros caps off scoring with 27-yard field goal
BY JIM BEERS
The Chester YellowJackets traveled to Freeburg, Illinois Friday September 13 to challenge the Midgets in a non-conference game.
In spite of it being the notorious and scary “FRIDAY the 13th” and the fact that Freeburg has an average enrollment of 750 students (compared to Chester’s 323 students), the YellowJackets walked away with a great 31-14 victory to remain undefeated at 3-0. The Jackets were ranked No.9 this week by the Associated Press in IHSA Division 2A Football rankings.
YellowJacket quarterback, Zain Al-Jassim, a senior, orchestrated a 228-yard passing game which netted four touchdowns for CHS in the win over Freeburg.
Devante Palacio, Chester’s senior, record-breaking wide receiver, caught five passes for 121 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Ethan Colvis, a junior, caught 1 pass for a touchdown and 37 yards, and senior Brenden Malley caught 1 pass for 13 yards and Chester’s fourth touchdown.
Sophomore kicker Karim Landeros kicked a 27-yard field goal and 4 extra-points to top off the scoring, and contribute to the victory.
Chester also added 118 rushing yards, led by senior Kolton Jany (74) and Ethan Colvis (26). Also contributing to the rushing stats were Zain Al-Jassim (8), Tray Peters (8), and Justin Hayman (2).
Freeburg won the coin toss and elected to kick off to Chester to start the game. A touchback on the kickoff brought the ball to the 20-yard line to open play. On Chester’s first play from scrimmage Kolton Jany ran 12 yards for a first down.
On the next play, quarterback Zain Al-Jassim hit Devante Palacio with a pass and Palacio proceeded to run for a 69-yard touchdown. Karim Landeros kicked the extra-point and the YellowJackets led, 7-0 just 19-seconds into the game.
Karim Landeros kicked the ball to the 35 yard line on the kickoff and the Midgets began their effort to upset the YellowJackets. The Chester defense had other ideas and held the Midgets to four-and out forcing a Freeburg punt.
Chester took the punt their own 22 yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, the Jackets fumbled on a lateral pass attempt and Freeburg’s Lewis recovered the loose ball on the 18 yard line for a 4-yard Chester loss.
Freeburg took over at Chester’s 18 yard line. YellowJacket Tino Rafael stopped the Midget’s first run attempt with only a 1-yard gain. AJ Vahlkamp then ran for 8 yards after which he scored a 4-yard touchdown at the 7:14 mark. Dane Olmstead kicked the extra-point and the Midgets tied the game, 7-7, for what looked as if it might turn into a real barn-burner.
On Freeburg’s kickoff the ball went into the end zone for a touchback. That put the ball on the 20-yard line to start the Jacket’s second possession. Zain Al-Jassim passed to Devante Palacio for a first down on the first play. A Midget holding penalty gave the Jackets another first down with 6:18 left to play in the first quarter.
Three plays later Kolton Jany caught a pass for another Chester first down and two plays later, Palacio caught his second touchdown pass of the night, this time a 33-yard gem. Landeros was good on his second extra-point attempt and Chester led, 14-7 at the 4:06 mark.
On the kickoff Chester’s Karim Landeros gave the Midgets a rolling, bouncing ball that was loose for a while before Adler Schulz recovered the ball at the Freeburg 25 yard line. A swarm of YellowJackets stopped the first Midget run attempt.
Chester’s Tray Peters stopped a good Weston Jarvis run at the 31 yard line with 2:03 to play in the opening frame. John Higgins and AJ Vahlkamp had good efforts to get a Freeburg first down at the Chester 41 yard line.
On the next play, Freeburg was called for a chop-block penalty taking the ball back 10 yards. The quarter ended with the Midgets facing 3-and-7 as the clock ran out. Chester led, 14-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Freeburg had the ball on 46 yard line to start the second quarter. On the first play, Chester’s Nate Maes had a great quarterback sack to begin the defensive effort. Freeburg was called for holding and the Midgets had to turn the ball over to Chester on downs.
Chester had the ball for just six plays when they had to turn the ball over to Freeburg on downs after they faced 4-and-7 at the 8:29. CHS attempted a “trickery play” in which Tray Peters ended up with the ball from a quick pass, but his knee touched the ground to end the play. Freeburg took over on their own 42 yard line.
Freeburg had the ball for 4 minutes before they were forced to punt by the YellowJacket defense. During that great effort Karin Landeros and Jarden Brunkhorst had fantastic tackles and Nate Maes and Kolton Jany sacker the Freeburg quarterback to force the Midgets to punt with 4:18 left in the half.
The YellowJackets only had the ball for 63 seconds and four plays before they were forced to punt by the Freeburg defense.
Freeburg then had the ball for four plays and 90 seconds after which the YellowJacket defense forced them to punt for the third time in the half.
Chester had the ball on the Freeburg 42 yard line to start the possession with 1:34 remaining in the first half. The possession began with a Chester illegal procedure penalty and back-to-back incomplete passes. Things did not look good for CHS.
On the next play Zain Al-Jassim found Chester’s Justin Hayman, a senior wide receiver, and Hayman ran to the Freeburg 37 yard line. On the next play, Al-Jassim passed to junior Ethan Colvis who ran for a 37-yard touchdown with 58.9 seconds on the clock. Karim Landeros kicked his third successful extra point of the game and the YellowJackets extended their lead to 21-7.
Chester’s defense held the Midgets for the final 58.0 seconds with a great pass break-up by Lincon Schroeder and another by sophomore Alex Blechle. Chester led, 21-7 at halftime.
Freeburg received the ball to start the second half. To kick-off the 3rd quarter the Midgets orchestrated a 9-play drive that resulted in a touchdown by AJ Vahlkamp on a 1-yard run at the 6:17 mark. Dane Olmstead’s extra-point kick was good and the Midgets pulled within seven points, 21-14.
During that drive Chester’s Alex Blechle made a great tackle on Freeburg’s Weston Jarvis throwing him for a 4-yard loss. Nate Maes also made a good stop on an AJ Vahlkamp run that prevented a first down.
Chester was held to 4-and-out on its next possession forcing a punt. Freeburg fumbled the ball on the return and Chester’s Zain Al-Jassim recovered the ball on the Midget’s 15 yard line with 4:32 to play in the third period.
Facing 2-and-3 Tray Peters ran for a first and ten. A failed run and an incomplete put the Jackets facing 3-and-8 at the 2:50 mark. On the next play, Al-Jassim found an open senior tight end, Brenden Malley, for a 13-yard pass and touchdown.
Karim Landeros remained perfect for the night on his extra-point kicks (4) and the Jackets extended their lead to 28-13 with 2:46 remaining in the third quarter.
The period ended with Nate Maes and Tino Rafael making great defensive plays to hold the Midgets scoreless as the clock ran out with Freeburg facing 2-amd-9 and Chester leading, 28-14.
Freeburg started the 4th Quarter with the ball on the 50- yard line facing 2-and-9. The CHS defense held them to 4-and-2 at which time the Midgets went for it. The Jackets defense held them again, forcing a turnover on downs.
The YellowJackets then returned the favor and turned the ball over on downs giving the ball back to Freeburg. The Midgets achieved back-to-back first downs and proceeded to fumble the ball with Chester’s Devante Palacio recovering the ball.
The Jackets took the ball and got back-to-back first downs on runs by Korbin Jany and Tray Peters. Ethan Colvis ran for five yards followed by Zain Al-Jassim running for another first down. Runs by Colvis and Jany got the ball to the 10 yard line. Facing 4-and-4, Karim Landeros kicked a 27-yard field goal for three points. Chester extended its lead to 31-14 with 1:19 left to play.
The Jackets held the Midgets the final 1:05 of the game to seal the deal for the win. Chester won, 31-14.
In the win, Chester’s Zain Al-Jassim completed 9-of-19 passes for 228 yards and four touchdowns. CHS ran 51 plays. FHS ran 54 plays. The Jackets had 346 yards, 228 passing and 118 rushing. Freeburg had a total of 179 yards, all on the ground.
CHS was 5-of-11 on third downs (45%). FHS was 6-of-13 on third down (46%). Chester had 1 turnover, a fumble. FHS had two turnovers, both fumbles.
The YellowJacket defense was great against the Midgets with 27 solo tackles and 46 tackle assists. Senior Cayden Brunkhorst was the top defender with 4 solo tackles and 3 tackle assists.
Head Coach, Billy Belton said, “I thought the defense played grea“Devante had a big day with two touchdowns. Taking the second lay of th game to the house was awesome. He is a special player!”
“We talked all week about how the toughest team would win. Freeburg runs a very hard offense to defend. I thought our D-line did a great job vs a bigger O-line. Coach Mueller and Coach Riggio have done a great job with our lines.”
“Playing hose bigger schools is always hard, but our boys played extremely hard all four quarters. I live the way the offense finished with that last drive taking a ton of time off the clock and then finished with three points. That was very impressive.” “This was a great team win and I’m so proud of the boys! They played so hard!”
Chester will host Sparta Friday September 20 for Homecoming 2024. That will be the Jacket’s first Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division game of the season. The Jackets stand at 3-0 so far this season overall.
CHS senior, Cayden Brunkhorst (3) led the Jackets on defense Friday September 13 with 4 solo tackles and 3 tackle assists. The Jackets defense was key in the 31-14, win at Freeburg helping Chester to improve to an overall record of 3-0. Jim Beers Photo
Brenden Malley (18), a 6’5″, 210 Lb. , YellowJacket tight end, caught a 13-yard pass from CHS quarterback Zain Al-Jassim at the 2:50 mark of the 3rd quarter Friday September 13th at Freeburg. Malley, a senior, then proceeded to score Chester’s fourth-and-final touchdown of the evening to extend Chester’s lead to 27-14. Karim Landeros then kicked his fourth extra-point of the game to give the YellowJackets a 28-14 lead. Malley took last season off to concentrate on his CHS Golf game, but returned this year bigger-and-better to become a key factor in the YellowJacket lineup. Jim Beers Photo