Tray Peters, Ethan Colvis, TaShawn Palacio and Karim Landeros receive honors at CHS Basketball game
BY JIM BEERS
The 2025 Chester High School YellowJacket Football Team had an outstanding season! The YellowJackets recorded a regular-season record of 8 wins and just 1 loss. The Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division record was 5-0, an undefeated season. It was back-to-back seasons with a conference championship.
Chester made the IHSA Class 2A State Football Playoffs for the 8th year in-a-row and hosted Maroa-Forsyth at W.O. Smith Field in Round 1 of the 2025 playoffs. The Jackets lost, 26-14, but Maroa-Forsyth eventually advanced all the way to the Class 2A State Championship game where they lost, to finish 2nd in the State of Illinois in Class 2A.
Chester gave them their hardest challenge in the playoffs until the championship game when they were defeated. The YellowJackets finished the 2025 season with an overall record of 8 wins and just 2 losses.
Coach Billy Belton said, “This year we outscored our opponents on an average of 37-38 points. The seniors finished their combined years of conference play with a record of 19-1. They made it to the playoffs for the 8th year in-a-row. The team broke all kinds of records!”
Four particular YellowJackets broke school records this season. For their efforts, Chester High School recognized and honored these fine young players, 2 seniors and 2 juniors, at a ceremony Friday February 6 during the CHS vs Red Bud basketball game.
Those honored include seniors Ethan Colvis and Tray Peters and juniors TaShawn Palacio and Karim Landeros. Each of these outstanding athletes were introduced at the ceremony and received a special football for their record-breaking seasons.
Ethan Colvis
Ethan Colvis, a senior, is the first YellowJacket in 12 years to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season. He averaged 8.21 yards per carry and scored 14 rushing touchdowns. He was one of three players to earn the title of “Elite Warrior” which is the equivalent of being a YellowJacket “Most Valuable Player” (MVP). Colvis was also a Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division “All-Conference” selection as both an Offensive Running Back and a Defensive Linebacker.
More impressive was the fact that he earned the title of Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division “Player of the Year”. Colvis further earned a place on the “All-South” squad. Ethan was extremely impressive with his selection to the Academic All-State Team. Finally, Mr. Colvis was a 1st Team All-State Football player.
Tray Peters
Tray Peters, a senior, was a “YellowJacket Elite Warrior” which is equal to being selected as a team’s “Most Valuable Player” and hardest worker. There were three such team awards for the 2025 season. Mr. Peters earned “All-Conference” honors for both Quarterback and Defensive Back in the Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division. He further earned the title of Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division “Offensive Player of the Year”.
Mr. Peters set two school records this season. First was for “Passing Touchdowns” and the second was for “Pass Completion Percentage”. These two former records were just set last year by former CHS Quarterback Zain Al-Jassim.
Tray had a great year with three games in which he had five Passing Touchdowns. Peters finished the 2025 football season with 25 Single-Season Passing Touchdowns (a new record), 1,657 passing yards, and 99 overall passing completions. His completion percentage was 65%. This was the highest completion percentage in CHS school history (a new record). Mr. Peters was also an “All-South” selection, and an “Academic All-State” honoree.
TaShawn Palacio
TaShawn Palacio, a junior, had the greatest receiving season in the history of Chester High School. He broke two records set by former YellowJacket receiver Jim Howie back in 1986. Palacio set new records for “Single-season receiving yards” and “Single-season receiving touchdowns”.
At CHS in 2025, TaShawn earned the team award for being the YellowJackets’ “Offensive Weapon”. Coach Billy Belton said, “TaShawn is the player that every opponent has to prepare for. If they don’t stop him, they can’t stop the YellowJacket team!”
TaShawn earned the Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division “All-Conference” title for both Defensive Back and Wing Back. His new CHS school records included “Most Single-Season Receiving Yards” with 900 yards and “Single-Season Receiving Touchdowns” with 13 Touchdowns. He ended 2025 with 44 overall receptions and averaged 20.45 yards per reception.
Palacio also earned the “All-South Award” and finished 19th in the State of Illinois in Class 2A in Receiving. Just as impressive is the fact that he further earned recognition for his academic accomplishments having earned the coveted “All-State Academic Award”. For his sports prowess, TaShawn was honored by being named as a 2025 “All-State Honorable Mention” recipient for his receiving skills and accomplishments.
Karim Landeros
Finally, Karim Landeros, a junior, also broke two school records in the 2025 season. Karim broke the CHS record for the number of “Yards per Punt” with an average of 40.6 yards per punt. The previous record was set by Karim’s brother, Jared Landeros, back in 2021. Jared had a record of 39 yards per punt.
Karim also set a new Chester High School record for “Most All-Time PAT’s. He finished 2025 with a total of 98 PAT’s. The previous record was set by Curt Owen. Karim earned “All-Conference” honors from the Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division for his skills on the Defensive Line. Finally, Landeros earned the honor of being selected to the 2025 “All-State Academic Team” for his academic accomplishments at CHS.