Chester is now 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the Cahokia Conference Illinois Division
By Jim Beers
CHESTER – The Chester High School YellowJackets hosted the Sparta Bulldogs in the 2024 CHS Homecoming game Friday September 20 at W.O. Smith Field. Chester prevailed by a score of 48-2 to maintain its undefeated record of 4-0. The Jackets further began their quest of the Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division title at 1-0 with the victory over the Bulldogs.
The evening started off with sunny skies and very hot, humid temperatures. The stadium was almost full with the surrounding hillsides busy with Jacket fans who came to witness the YellowJackets and the Bulldogs compete for Homecoming supremacy.
Sparta won the coin toss and elected to receive to start the game. On the first series, Chester’s Nate Maes blocked a Bulldog punt and the Jackets had the ball just a minute and 30 seconds into the game.
The YellowJackets scored on their first two possessions. The first was on the second play from scrimmage when Tray Peters scored on a 5-yard run. Karim Landeros’ extra-point kick was blocked and Chester led, 6-0 at the 9:50 mark.
The Jacket defense held the Dawgs to four downs and out and CHS had the ball on their own 33-yard line with 4:31 remaining in the opening frame. After a Devante Palacio 16-yard pass, a Kolton Jany 3-yard run, an Ethan Colvis 3-yard run, and an Ethan Colvis 13-yard pass reception, Colvis scored the Jacket’s second TD on a 14-yard pass from Zain-Al-Jassim. The Landeros kick was good and Chester led, 13-0 at the 4:35 mark.
Sparta put together a nice possession after the CHS TD, but were unable to score. Chester took the ball with just .42 remaining in the first quarter. With 29.4 second to play, Chester’s Devante Palacio caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Zain Al-Jassim for the Jacket’s third score. Karim Landeros drilled the extra-point kick and Chester led, 20-0.
With Palacio’s touchdown reception, he broke the Chester High School record for touchdown receptions. The former record of 15 TD receptions was set by Jim Howie. That record was tied by Cooper Eggemeyer. Palacio broke their totals by one touchdown and set the new CHS touchdown reception record at 16 all-time TD receptions.
With 29.4 seconds on the clock in the first quarter, game officials put the game on hold and sent both teams to the locker rooms due to a series of lightning flashes in the area and predictions of storms. That hold lasted for nearly two hours. Once there were no sightings of lightning for 30-minutes the game was finally resumed at approximately 9:30 p.m.
Sparta had the ball when play resumed but did not do well with the possession. Facing 4-and-13, the Dawgs decided to punt.
Chester’s Denis Vasquez blocked the kick, recovered the ball, and proceeded to run for a YellowJacket touchdown. Chester’s Tray Peters threw a pass to Alex Blechle for a 2-point conversion. Chester extended its lead to 28-0, at the 10:00 mark. On the play, Sparta was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct and a Bulldog was ejected from the game.
On Sparta’s next possession the YellowJacket defense was tough as Devante Palacio and Jack Heffernan made a huge tackle, the Dawgs were thrown for a two-yard loss on the next play and facing 4-and-2, the Dawgs fumbled the ball with 8:42 remaining in the first half. Chester recovered the fumble.
On Chester’s first play from scrimmage Lannin Caron ran for a first down. Kolton Jany took the ball to the 5 yard line on the second play. Jany followed up on the third play from scrimmage and scored on a 5-yard run. CHS led, 34-0 at the 8:00 mark.
Chester’s defense held the Dawgs to 4-and-out on their next possession forcing a punt. The Jackets threw an interception on their second play from scrimmage and Sparta had the ball right back again with 6:26 to play in the half.
Sparta had the ball for just two plays when the Bulldogs fumbled again. This time Chester’s Devante Palacio recovered the fumble and ran for another YellowJacket touchdown. Karim Landeros kicked the extra-point to extend Chester’s lead to 41-0 at the 6:03 mark.
The Bulldogs had the ball for just two plays in their following possession and they fumbled the ball again, this time on a bad snap and Chester recovered once again! This time with 5:16 remaining in the first half.
On Chester’s first play from scrimmage at the Sparta 24 yard line, senior Justin Hayman took the ball to the 5-yard line for a first down. On the next play, Kolton Jany ran it into the end zone for Chester’s 7th touchdown. Karim Landeros kicked his 4th extra-point of the game and the Jackets led, 48-0 with 4:35 left in the first half. It was now nearing 10:00 P.M. By this time Coach Billy Belton had started making substitutions from his bench.
Sparta ran a 10-play possession achieving three first downs. The Dawgs were close, but just couldn’t get the score. Facing 4-and-4 the Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs with 1:47 left to play in the first half.
To end the half, YellowJackets Kolton Jany and Tray Peters got first downs and as the clock ran out, Chester led, 48-0 going into the locker room at halftime.
With Chester ahead by 30 points, there was a continuous clock the entire second half. The night was late and coaches, players, officials, and fans were anxious to get the game over and return to their friendly environments!
Chester had the ball to start the second half. The Jackets got a pair of first downs but eventually turned the ball over on downs with 4:44 left in the 3rd quarter. Sparta followed with a pair of first downs on their possession but faced 2-and-9 as the clock sounded to end the 3rd quarter. CHS led, 48-0.
The Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs to finish their first possession of the 4th quarter. Chester had to punt on their first possession and Sparta got a safety for two points on a botched CHS punt. Chester 48-Sparta 2 with 9:40 to play on the continuous clock.
Sparta turned the ball over on downs to end their final possession and Chester let the final 1:30 run the clock out. CHS won, 48-2.
In the win, Chester recorded 253 yards (75 passing and 178 rushing). Sparta recorded 138 yards (99 passing and 39 rushing). Chester had 12 first downs while Sparta had 10 first downs. The YellowJackets had 1 turnover on an interception. The Bulldogs had 3 turnovers including 2 fumbles and 1 interception.
Chester’s Zain Al-Jassim completed 6-of-7 passes (86%) for 75 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Sparta passed for 99 yards and 1 interception. Chester rushed for 253 yards and 3 touchdowns. Kolton Jany led in rushing with 9 runs for 121 yards, and 2 touchdowns. Tray Peters ran four times for 19 yards and 1 touchdown.
In the receiving stat line Devante Palacio caught 2 passes for 28 yards, and 1 touchdown. Ethan Colvis caught 2 passes for 27 yards and 1 touchdowns. Lannin Caron caught 1 pass for 20 yards.
The Jacket defense was tough throughout the long night. CHS recorded 21 tackles, 40 tackle assists, 3 sacks, and 5 tackles for a loss. In addition Chester had 2 fumble recoveries , 1 interception and 2 defensive touchdowns.
Kolton Jany led with 3 solo tackles, 3 tackle assists, 2 sacks and 2 tackles for a loss. Denis Vasquez recorded 3 solo tackles, and 1 assist. Ethan Colvis had 2 solos, 4 assists, and 1 tackle for a loss. Cayden Brunkhorst recorded 1 solo tackle and 4 tackle assists. Alex Williamson had 1 solo and 5 tackle assists. Alex Blechle, Gene Bicket, and Brenden Malley each contributed 2 solo tackles apiece.
This Friday September 27 the YellowJackets will travel to Wesclin to take on the Warriors. Kick-off is 7:00 p.m.
Chester’s Devante Palacio broke another school record Friday September 20 in front of a packed Homecoming crowd as the YellowJackets beat Sparta, 38-2. With 29.4 to play in the first quarter Palacio caught a Zain Al-Jassim 11-yard touchdown pass to score Chester’s third TD of the game. In doing so, Palacio broke the school record for receiving touchdowns. The previous record of 15 reception TD’s was set by Jim Howie. That record was tied by Cooper Eggemeyer who also had 15 reception touchdowns. Palacio’s reception TD broke the record with 16 TD’s. Jim Beers Photo
Chester’s Kolton Jany (8) makes his way into the end zone escorted by fellow YellowJacket players Morgan Mires (70), Brenden Malley (18), and Jack Heffernan (17). Following behind are Sparta defenders Diego Perez (I52) and Ethan Ledbetter (74). For the night against Sparta, Jany scored two touchdowns and ran for a total of 121 yards. He also led the defense with 3 solo tackles, 3 tackle assists, 2 quarterback sacks, and 2 tackles fr a loss. Jim Beers Photo
The YellowJackets take the field to face the Sparta Bulldogs Friday September 20 at the 2024 Homecoming game. Jim Beers Photo
CHS defensive lineman Denis Vasquez (52) picked up a loose blocked kick and ran it into the end zone for Chester’s 4th touchdown of the night. Keeping him protected are Chester players Ethan Colvis (25), Nate Maes (55) and Alex Williamson (66). Vasquez’s score and Alex Blechle’s two-point pass conversion gave the Jackets a 28-0 lead at the 8:00 mark of the 3rd quarter. Jim Beers Photo
YellowJacket and Bulldog players and coaches line up for the traditional post-game sportsmanship greetings following the conclusion of the Homecoming game Friday September 20. In spite of the rather large point spread, players were friendly, sportsmanlike and supportive of each other following the contest. Jim Beers Photo