With just 1:47 left to play and Chester up, 13-12, Red Bud kicks a field goal and holds on to steal the win, 15-13
BY JIM BEERS
Friday night October 9 was a big night for Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division football. It was especially huge for the Chester YellowJackets who came into the night all alone at the top of the league undefeated at 4-0 in the conference.
Sparta-Steeleville was right under the Jackets with a Cahokia Conference record of 3-1 and Red Bud was next with its conference record of 3-1. The Randolph County teams were in a heated battle for at least a piece of the 2026 Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division Championship.
Red Bud played at Chester and Sparta played at Dupo where the Tiger’s had a conference record of 0-4. All week long the predictions flowed as to the possibilities of the various outcomes.
Most predictions had Chester winning over the Red Bud Musketeers, and Sparta-Steeleville winning easily over the Dupo Tigers. A win by Chester would have given them the outright Cahokia Conference Championship with an undefeated season of 5-0. Red Bud would have ended up with a 3-2 conference record. A win by Sparta-Steeleville would give the Bulldogs a 4-1 conference record and a 2nd Place finish.
In that scenario, Chester would have won the outright title with a record of 5-0. Sparta-Steeleville would have earned the runner-up positon with a final record of 4-1. Red Bud would have landed in 3rd Place with a final record of 3-2
Well, at the end of the night, word had traveled around the Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division that Chester fell to Red Bud and ended up with a conference record of 4-1. The Red Bud Musketeers win gave them a final conference record of 4-1. With Sparta-Steeleville winning at Dupo, the Bulldogs ended up with a final record of 4-1. That created a final Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division 3-way tie for 1st Place. Chester, Red Bud, and Sparta will have to share the 2026 Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division Championship!
It was a big night at W.O. Smith Field at Chester High School. Not only was this an opportunity for Chester to win the outright conference title, but it was Senior Night 2026 for all fall athletic teams as well as band and dance team. In addition, CHS had a heartfelt recognition for a Red Bud Coach that had just returned from a long deployment in the US Air Force. Finally, the CHS Tech Crew provided a halftime high-tech light show for the fans.
A large crowd on both sides of the field enjoyed a full evening of entertainment both on the football field with a thrilling YellowJacket-Musketeer football game and all of the special added attractions throughout the night.
Red Bud won the coin toss and elected to kick off to Chester to start the game. The YellowJackets were happy to receive to begin the contest and took advantage to set the tone for the evening with a first possession score.
It took the Jackets just 12 plays and 4:30 to score the first points of the game on an 11-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Alex Blechle to Trey McCartney. Both are seniors. Karim Landeros’ extra-point kick was blocked by the Musketeers, but the YellowJackets led, 6-0 with just 7:12 left in the first quarter.
The Musketeers had the ball for four minutes before the Chester defense forced the Red Bud offense to punt at the 4:00 mark. Red Bud then held the Jackets for four downs and forced a Chester punt. Red Bud fumbled the ball on the return and Chester’s Danny Worley recovered the ball. Chester took over once again with the ball on the CHS 47-yard line and 1st-and-ten. All was going Chester’s way with 1:19 left to play in the 1st Quarter. Red Bud held CHS the rest of the first period. At the buzzer, Chester led, 6-0.
The second quarter began with Chester having the ball. The Jackets got a first down, but then were held for four downs. Chester had to turn the ball over on downs at the 10:35 mark.
Red Bud had new life in the second quarter and had back-to-back-to-back first downs. After the three first downs in-a-row, the Musketeers had three more downs without as first down, but achieved another first down at the 4:44 mark. With just 3:14 left to play in the second period, Red Bud’s Wiley Minemann scored Red Bud’ s first touchdown on a 3-yard rush. Chester blocked Brayden Koester’s extra-point attempt and the score was tied, 6-6, with 3:57 left on the clock.
On Chester’s next possession, The Jackets fumbled the ball on the second play from scrimmage. Musketeer, Drew Manning recovered the fumble and Red Bud had the ball back with just a little more than two minutes left in the first half.
Red Bud had the ball on Chester’s 26-yardline to start their possession. On the third play from scrimmage, the Musketeers scored again with 1:22 on the clock when Carson Moll caught a Landon Ruebusch 16-yard touchdown pass. The Musketeers attempted a two-point conversion run, but the YellowJackets stopped it. Red Bud led, 12-6, at the end of the first half.
The Musketeers had the ball to start the second half. They had one first down, but the Jacket defense stopped them and forced a punt (8:46). Chester returned the favor and had to punt on their first possession of the second half (7:56). Red Bud had to punt again on its next possession (5:38).
On Chester’s nest possession, the YellowJackets came alive. Danny Worley ran for nine yards on the first play. Alex Blechle scrambled for a first down. The Jackets accumulated three first downs before finally scoring a touchdown when Alex Blechle connected with TaShawn Palacio for Chester’s second touchdown. The game was tied, 12-12. Karin Landeros came on, to kick the extra-point. He was successful and the Jackets re-took the lead, 13-12, with 3:07 left in the third quarter. The quarter ended with the Musketeers facing 3-11 as the horn sounded to bring the 3rd Quarter to a close.
The 4th Quarter opened with Red Bud facing 3-11. They earned two first downs, then facing 3-8 with the ball on the nine-yard line, Chester’s Donny Sabo intercepted a Landon Ruebusch pass. Chester took over with 8:45 left to play in the game.
Red Bud held CHS for seven plays after which Reagan Sims had to punt (6:19). Red Bud’s next possession was the game-breaker for Chester. During a nine-play possession, Chester’s Trey McCartney and Donny Sabo received play-stopping injuries. Red Bud’s offense reached one first down, then the Jacket defense stopped the drive facing 4-7 with 1:56 left to play. The Musketeers brought out Brayden Koester to attempt a field goal. Koester’s kick was good and Red Bud re-took the lead, 15-13.
With 1:47 on the clock, Red Bud kicked the ball into the end zone. Chester took the ball over on their own 20-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, Alex Blechle hit TaShawn Palacio for a first down. On the second play, Blechle hit Palacio again, this time for six yards.
With 1:18 left to play, the Jackets reached another first down. Facing 2-10 and with 0.59 on the clock, Blechle attempted a Hail Mary pass which was intended for TaShawn Palacio. The ball was right on the target for Palacio when a Musketeer defender stormed in and intercepted the pass.
Red Bud took a knee a knee to end the game and the Musketeers won an exciting, action-packed, nail-biting game, 15-13.
On paper, Chester outdid Red Bud in most areas. Each team ran a total of 57 plays. Chester accumulated 341 yards and Red Bud recorded 275 yards. CHS passed for 153 yards and ran for 188 yards. Red Bud passed for 173 yards and ran for 102 yards. Chester had 20 first downs. Red Bud had 16 first downs. Chester was 7-for-12 on 3rd Down Efficiency (58%). Red Bud was 6-of-12 on third downs (50%). Each team had two turnovers, one fumble and one interception. Chester committed five penalties and Red Bud had two penalties.
Chester quarterback Alex Blechle connected for 10-of-23 passes (43%) for 153 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. The YellowJackets rushed 31 times for a total of 188 yards. Alex Blechle led with 20 runs for 129 yards. Zane Eggemeyer ran 5 times for 16 yards and 1 turnover. Donny Worley ran 4 times for 16 yards.
Red Bud’s leading rusher was Wiley Minemann who ran 16 times for 40 yards and 1 touchdown. The entire team rushed 37 times for a total of 102 yards and 1 touchdown.
The YellowJackets caught 10 passes for a total of 13 yards. TaShawn Palacio led with six receptions for 101 yards and 1 touchdown. Trey McCartney caught 2 passes for 36 yards and 1 touchdown. The Musketeers caught a total of nine passes for a total of 173 yards and 1 touchdown. Carson Moll led with 5 passes for 112 yards and 1 touchdown. Ethan Powell caught 2 passes for 16 yards.
On defense, Chester recorded 27 solo tackles, 36 tackle assists, and 4 tackles for a loss. Donny Sabo led with 5 solos, 1 interception, and 1 assist. Avery Wittenborn followed with 4 solos, and 3 assists. Kanon Jany recorded 3 solos and 9 assists. Trey McCartney had 2 solos, 3 assists, 1 quarterback sack, and 1 tackle for a loss. Zane Eggemeyer recorded 2 solos and 6 assists. Danny Worley had 2 solos and 2 assists, and 1 fumble recovery. Karim Landeros recorded 2 solos, 6 assists, 1 quarterback sack, and 2 tackles for a loss.
The Musketeers recorded a total of 23 solo tackles, 18 tackle assists, and 1 tackle for a loss. Tyler Nolan led Red Bud with 5 solos and 2 assists. Drew Manning had 4 solos, 1 assist, and 1 tackle for a loss. He also recovered 1 Chester fumble.
CHS Head Coach, Billy Belton said, “We just didn’t make enough plays at the end of the night. I am proud of how hard the boys fought. We didn‘t win the conference outright, but we got a part of it. This will be the third year in-a-row that we won the conference, twice outright and this year we had to share with both Red Bud and Sparta.”
Chester will complete the 2026 regular season next week, Friday October 23 at non-conference, Nashville. Saturday evening the YellowJackets will anxiously await the announcement of the 2026 IHSA Class 2A State Football Playoff pairings.
Chester quarterback Alex Blechle (3) scrambles to escape Red Bud’s Luke McLellan (9) in the game Friday October 9. For the night, Blechle led the YellowJackets in rushing with 20 runs for a total of 129 yards. He also passed 10 times for a total of 153 yards and two touchdowns. Jim Beers Photo
TaShawn Palacio (11), a 6’1″, 195 Lb., Wide Receiver, for Chester was the leading receiver for the YellowJackets. He caught 6 passes for a total of 101 yards and 1 touchdown in the game against Red Bud. On defense, Palacio had 1 solo tackle and 2 tackle assists. Jim Beers Photo
The Chester YellowJacket Football Team arrives on W.O. Smith Field for what could possibly be the final home game of the 2026 season. Friday October 9 the YellowJackets hosted Red Bud in a key Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division game. The Jackets lost a real barnburner, 15-13, to the Musketeers. CHS travels to Nashville this Friday October 16 to close out the 2026 regular season. Saturday October 17th IHSA will announce then 2026 IHSA Class 2A State Football pairings. The Jackets hope for a home game at some point during the Playoffs. Jim Beers Photo