No. 8 Chester will host No. 9 Maroa-Forsyth Saturday November 1 at 1 p.m.
By Jim Beers
CHESTER – The 2025 regular season is complete and the IHSA has announced the 32 team bracket for the 2025 IHSA Class 2A State Football Playoff bracket. The bracket is broken into a northern 16 team upper bracket and a southern 16 team lower bracket.
Chester High School was selected to compete in the 16 team lower southern bracket and will host a home game this Saturday November 1. The No 8 seed YellowJackets will host the No. 9 seed Maroa-Forsyth Trojans at 1 p.m. at W.O. Smith Field at Chester High School.
The Trojans are no strangers to the YellowJackets as they faced Maroa-Forsyth last year in the second round of the 2025 IHSA Class 2A Playoffs. After beating Westville in Round 1, 40-35 at Chester, the Jackets traveled to Maroa, Illinois to face the Trojans, losing 28-7.
In 2023, Chester lost to Red Bud in Round 1 of the playoffs in a nail-biter that went down to the final seconds when the Musketeers scored a fairy tale touchdown in the cold, wet, rainy, and windy conditions to steal the win and eliminate the YellowJackets from the 2023 State Tournament.
In 2022 the YellowJackets lost in the first round of the playoffs on the road to the Decatur St. Teresa Bulldogs, 49-0. The Bulldogs were the team to beat that year and the Jackets struggled in that contest.
In 2021, the YellowJackets lost on the road at Vandalia in the first round of the Class 2A State Playoffs to the Vandalia Vandals, 24-0.
Chester enters the 2025 IHSA Class 2A State Football playoffs with an overall record of 8-1. The YellowJackets also bring with them an undefeated 5-0 record and a conference title in the 2025 Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division. Chester is seeded No. 8 in the southern bracket, and will host No. 9 Maroa-Forsyth.
Southern Bracket pairings
Johnston City (9-0) vs (16) Trenton-Wesclin (5-4)
(8) Chester (8-1) vs (9) Maroa-Forsyth (7-2)
(4) Flora (8-1) vs (13) Nashville (5-4)
(5) Pana (8-1) vs (12) Bismarck (B.-Henning-Rossville-Alvin) (6-3)
(2) Westville (9-0) vs (15) Shelbyville (5-4)
(7) DuQuoin (8-1) vs (10) Carlinville (7-2)
(3) Arthur (A.-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond) (9-0) vs Marshall (5-4)
(6) Toledo (Cumberland) (8-1) vs (11) Sullivan (7-2)
Northern Bracket Pairings
Taylor Ridge (Rockridge) (9-0) vs (16) Carthage (Illini West) (5-4)
(8) Chicago (Richards) (7-2) vs (9) Downs (Tri-Valley) (7-2)
(4) Seneca (9-0) vs (13) Port Byron (Riverdale) (6-3)
(5) Wilmington (8-1) vs (12) Hamilton (West Hancock Coop) (6-3)
(2) El Paso (Gridley vs (15) Chicago (Marshall Coop) (5-4)
(7) Sterling (Newton Central Catholic) (7-2) vs (10) Colfax (Ridgeview Coop) (7-2)
(3) Farmington (9-0) vs (14) Lanark (Eastland-Pearl City Coop) (5-4)
(6) Aurora (Christian) (7-2) vs (11) Erie (Prophetstown Coop) (6-3)