Class 3A Paris holds on to win by two points, 27-25, as Class 2A Chester misses on several key plays
BY JIM BEERS
Saturday August 22 was the season opener for both the Chester YellowJackets and the Paris Tigers. Week 1 wasn’t the best for the YellowJackets in several ways. First of all, Chester had to travel for 3 ½ hours to Paris, Illinois which is close to the Indiana border. Game time was 5:00 p.m. so prior to kickoff, CHS spent most of the afternoon on the long bus ride.
In the weeks prior to the opener, the temperatures were extremely hot and humid somewhat limiting and/or hampering Jacket workouts.
Chester was also working under the guidance of new quarterbacks, and a somewhat smaller line, but preliminary indications were that the Jackets had great quickness and speed, as well and much team dedication, commitment, and pride. Coach Billy Belton had every confidence that the 2026 YellowJackets would be very competitive if not even better than in 2025.
The Paris Tigers shocked everyone at the game when they won the coin toss, elected to receive, and took the opening kickoff all the way to the end zone for a 60-yard touchdown. The extra point was good and right off the bat, Paris led, 7-0. Five plays (1-minute) later Chester scored on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Alex Blechle to TaShawn Palacio. The extra-point kick was missed and the Jackets trailed by just one point, 7-6.
The first quarter continued to be to be a see-saw affair. Paris had a game plan to control the clock and keep the ball on the ground. That worked for 16 plays in the next nine minutes when Hutchings scored for the Tigers on a 34-yard touchdown run. The extra-point kick was good and Paris extended its lead to eight points, 14-6, with 2:20 remaining in the first quarter.
Chester used the next two minutes wisely and orchestrated three first downs on two good runs by Danny Worley and a quarterback keeper by Alex Blechle. With just sixteen seconds left on the clock, Blechle found TaShawn Palacio for a 19-yard touchdown pass.
CHS was just two points behind, 14-12, and elected to attempt a 2-point conversion. Rhett Creason ran the ball and bumped into Alex Blechle. This mishap created confusion and the attempt was defended.
In the final 16-seconds the Tigers managed three plays. On the second play, Chester committed a personal foul giving Paris an extra 15-yards. As time ran out, the Tigers led by two points, 14-12. Chester’s missed extra-point kick and a missed 2-point conversion attempt allowed Paris to have a two-point lead at the end of the opening period.
To open the second quarter, Paris had the ball. On the third play, the Tigers evened the penalty game and committed a 15-yard penalty. The YellowJackets held the Tigers for three more plays forcing Paris to punt.
Paris stood firm on Chester’s next possession and forced the Jackets to punt after just six plays. The Jackets had two 5-yard penalties during that short possession and quarterback Alex Blechle was sacked forcing CHS to punt. The punt was partially blocked and the ball went only 22 yards, giving the Tigers great field position with 6:23 left in the first half.
Paris running back, Kirby, ran for three yards on the first play of the Tiger’s possession. He was stopped by Chester’s defensive end Landen Conder who made a great play. Four plays later, Kirby ran the ball to the 2-yard line with 3:27 left on the clock. On the next play, Maddy ran the ball in for the Tiger’s third touchdown of the game. Chester defended the extra-point kick, but Paris led by eight points again, 20-12, at the 3:17 mark.
In the final 3:09, Chester ran eight plays. During that time, the YellowJackets committed a holding call (15-yard penalty) and was forced to punt for the second time in the game. A bad snap caused a second poor punt. Paris had good field position again with just .57 left in the half.
The Tigers ran just four plays to close the half. On the third play, the YellowJackets were called for yet their third 15-yard penalty of the game. At halftime, the Tigers took an eight point, 20-12 lead into the locker room. The Jackets committed five penalties in the first half, including off sides (5), personal foul (15), illegal man down field (5), delay of game (5), and personal foul (15).
The game remained close and interesting in the second half. Chester had the ball to start the third quarter. On the opening kickoff, Danny Worley ran the ball all the way to the three-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, Zane Eggemeyer ran the ball into the end zone for Chester’s third touchdown of the game. CHS tried a 2-point conversion, but was stopped. The Jackets were just 2-points behind the Tigers, 20-18, with 11:16 remaining in the third quarter.
Four minutes later Paris returned the favor and scored on a 13-yard run by Kipton Bradford. The extra point kick was good and the Tigers extended their lead to nine points to lead, 27-18, with 7:06 remaining in the third period. That would be the Tiger’s last score of the game.
Two minutes and five plays later the Jackets threatened again. TaShawn Palacio caught a 34-yard pass to get the ball moving. Anthony Keeton, who was quarterbacking, got a first down on a quarterback keeper. At the 5-minute mark, Keeton threw a beautiful, long bomb to Rhett Creason who was all alone. Everything looked as if Creason would score another YellowJacket touchdown. He was in the open with nobody between him and the goal line. Somehow he lost track of the pass and the ball was not received. The Tigers took over on downs for the final five minutes. As the clock ran out to end the third quarter, Paris led, 27-18.
The Tigers had the ball to start the 4th quarter. On the first play from scrimmage TaShawn Palacio almost intercepted a long bomb from the Tiger quarterback. Another huge pass gave the Tigers a 1st down. On the next play Paris attempted another long bomb into the end zone. Chester defended and created a loose ball. The YellowJackets recovered the loose ball and thwarted what could have been another Tiger touchdown.
The Jackets took over with 10:30 left in the game. Blechle was back at the quarterback position. He had a huge run with 9:47 to play for a huge YellowJacket first down. Everything was looking good for CHS when Chester had three, 5-yard losses in four plays. The first was a 5-yard quarterback sack, next as an illegal motion call, and an illegal substitution call rounded out the debacle. Chester then turned the ball over on downs.
Paris had the ball with just 5:33 to play in the game. The YellowJacket defense went to work and held the Tigers forcing a punt.
Chester made good use of the next two minutes and thirty seconds. Trey McCartney, Chester’s senior tight end, caught a caught a nice Blechle pass for a 1st down. Danny Worley got another 1st down on a nice pass. Passes to Rhett Creason and Trey McCartney gave the Jackets more yardage. With just 1:02 to play in the game, the Alex Blechle passing machine connected with Trey McCartney for Chester’s 4th touchdown of the game. Karim Landeros kicked his first extra point of the season and the Jackets were back within two points, 27-25.
On the kickoff, Chester attempted an onside kick which failed and the Tigers had to control the clock for just a minute to secure the win, 27-25.
In spite of the 3 ½ hour bus ride and playing a rare Saturday evening game, the YellowJackets gave the Tigers their money’s-worth on the road. In the game CHS ran 55 plays while PHS ran 58 plays. Chester actually had more yards than Paris, 355 yards vs 316 yards. The Jackets had 200 yards passing and 155 yards rushing. Paris had just 66 yards passing and 253 yards rushing. CHS recorded 17 first downs and PHS had 21 first downs.
The YellowJackets did not turn the ball over in the loss. Paris had one turnover. Chester recorded 10 penalties while Paris recorded just five penalties. In the passing game, Chester’s Blechle threw for 160 yards (10-of-13) and Anthony Keeton threw for 40 yards (2-of-7).
The Tigers won the rushing game, 253 to 155. Alex Blechle led Chester’s running game (14 times for 89 yards), followed by Danny Worley (6-for 32), TaShawn Palacio (3 for 21), and Zane Eggemeyer (2 for 13 and 1 touchdown). D. Rogers led the Tigers with 99 yards on 19 attempts.
Chester won the receiving game, led by TaShawn Palacio who had 4 receptions for 107 yards and two touchdowns. Trey McCartney had 4 receptions for 69 yards and 1 touchdown. Danny Worley had one reception for 13 yards and Rhett Creason had three receptions for 11 yards. D. Rogers led the Tigers with 2 receptions for 36 yards.
TaShawn Palacio led the Chester defense with 6 tackles, 5 assists, and 1 tackle for a loss. Kanon Jany followed with 4 tackles and 6 assists. Landen Conder recorded 2 solo tackles and 3 tackle assists. Donnie Sabo recovered the Tiger fumble.
Next up for the YellowJackets will be a three-game home streak which starts this Friday August 28 when Chester hosts Anna-Jonesboro at W.O. Smith Field at 7 p.m. The following week the Jackets host Frankfort Friday September 43 and the complete the 3-game home stand when Sparta comes to town for the first Cahokia Conference game of the 2026 season.