Chester improves to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division
By Jim Beers
CHESTER – The Chester YellowJackets returned to the friendly confines of W.O. Smith Field at Chester High School Friday September 26 after being on the road for three weeks. CHS hosted Cahokia Conference rivals, the Wesclin Warriors.
A great crowd was on hand to not only see and support the YellowJackets, but to watch the CHS Dance Team Youth Cheer Camp performance and to celebrate the Class of 1965 Football Team who was the first team in school history to win an outright conference championship.
Wesclin won the coin toss and elected to receive to start the game. Chester kicker, Karim Landeros, kicked off at 7:00 p.m. The Jacket defense allowed one first down on Wesclin’s first possession, but held them to 4-and-out on the second set of downs to force a WHS punt at the 9:54 mark.
CHS returned the ball to their own 30 yard line. On Chester’s first play from scrimmage, the Jackets were popped hard by the Wesclin defense and fumbled the ball right into a Warrior’s hands. That turnover gave WHS the ball at the Chester 28 yard line. Seven plays later, Wesclin’s quarterback, Cael Madden, scored a touchdown on a 1-yard quarterback-keeper. Layne Hayes kicked the extra point and Wesclin led, 7-0 at the 5:05 mark of the first quarter.
On the ensuing Warrior kickoff, Chester’s Alex Blechle returned the ball to the Chester 43 yard line. Facing 4-and-5, and with the ball on the Chester 49 yard line, Chester quarterback Tray Peters, found CHS wide receiver, TaShawn Palacio and connected for a 51-yard touchdown pass at the 2:57 mark of the first quarter. Karim Landeros kicked the extra point, and the YellowJackets tied the game, 7-7.
On Wesclin’s next possession, the Jacket defense held the Warriors to 4-and-out, forcing a second Warrior punt. Two Wesclin penalties hurt them during that 4-play possession series.
With 42.5 seconds on the clock, Chester’s Alex Blechle had another good kickoff return, this time to the 44 yard line. Blechle ran for 5 yards on the first play from scrimmage, but time ran out to end the first quarter with Chester and Wesclin tied, 7-7.
Chester had the ball on their own 49 yard line to start the second quarter. The Jackets faced 2-and-5 with 12:00 on the clock. On the first play from scrimmage, Chester quarterback, Tray Peters, once again found TaShawn Palacio for his second 51-yard touchdown pass of the game on back-to-back possessions. Karim Landeros kicked his second consecutive extra point to extend Chester’s lead to 14-7 with 11:42 remaining in the 2nd quarter.
Wesclin had the ball on offense for 8:21 on their next possession. CHS held them to 4-and-5 at which time they faked a punt, and Wesclin’s star running back, William Waggoner, a senior, ran for a first down. The Jackets held them once again, this time to 4-and-2, but a CHS off-sides penalty gave the Warriors another first down.
Chester held the Warriors yet another four plays. This time they faced 4-and-3 with 6:21 to play. The Warriors went for it again, and this time, William Waggoner ran for a 16-yard touchdown. Chester blocked Layne Hays extra point kick and Wesclin was within one point of tying Chester, 14-13, at the 6:04 mark.
The next two series were short-lived, one for Chester and the other for Wesclin. Wesclin attempted an on-side kick on the kickoff to Chester. The YellowJackets got the ball at the 50 yard line to start what was thought to be a great position to start the possession. Ethan Colvis and Tray Peters continued the Jacket success running for a first down at 4:42. The success continued as Peters ran for 9-yards on the next play and gutted out another 4 yards for a second first down (1st-and-10 with 4:09 to play in the half). On the next play, with the ball on Wesclin’s 21 yard line and 4:02 remaining, Chester fumbled the ball and Wesclin recovered.
On Wesclin’s possession, Chester’s Morgan Miers and Ethan Colvis made key defensive plays to stop the Warrior advances. Chester’s Derrius Shoemate and TaShawn Palacio also made key defensive plays to put Wesclin in a 4-1 position which forced a Warrior punt with 3:20 remaining in the 2nd quarter.
The final 3:20 turned out to be a “wild-and-crazy” time in which Chester would sting the Warriors for two more touchdowns before the end of the first half.
On Chester’s first possession, Ethan Colvis ran for 5 yards and Trey McCartney caught a Tray Peters pass for a 1st down. Peters was then chased and sacked for a 6-yard loss with 2:04 left to play.
Facing 3-and-17 with 1:56 to play, Peters connected with TaShawn Palacio for his third touchdown of the game, this time on a 14-yard pass. Karim Landeros kicked his third extra point of the night and Chester extended its lead to 21-13, with just 1:30 left to play in the first half.
Wesclin had the ball on their own 20 yard line to start their possession. Quarterback Cael Madden found Layne Hayes for a first down on the first play from scrimmage with 1:04 left to play. On the next play, Madden attempted another pass.
This time, the pass was tipped by the YellowJackets and Chester’s Derrius Shoemate ended up with the pass and ran it all the way to the Warrior 1-yard line. At first everyone thought Shoemate had scored a touchdown, but the referee ruled him down at the 5-yard line. With 42.5 seconds on the clock, Chester’s Zane Eggemeyer caught a touchdown pass from Tray Peters and Karim Landeros kicked his 4th extra point of the night. Chester extended its lead to 28-13 at halftime.
Chester received the opening kickoff to start the second half. TaShawn Palacio returned the ball to the 49 yard line. Eight plays later, Tray Peters found Trey McCartney for a 20-yard touchdown. Karim Landeros kicked his fifth extra-point of the evening and Chester extended its lead once again, this time to 35-13 at the 8:07 mark of the 3rd quarter.
Wesclin faced 2-and-9 at Chester’s 17 yard line with 5:27 to play in the 3rd quarter. On the next play, Chester’s Kanon Jany, a 5’6”, 165 lb. linebacker, intercepted a Cael Madden pass giving the ball back to the YellowJackets. Chester went 4-and-out and had to punt with 4:47 left to play in the 3rd period.
The Warriors returned the ball to their 40 yard line. Once again, Wesclin had good ball movement as William Waggoner had back-to-back runs for a first down, and Chester was called for roughing the passer, giving the Warriors 15 more yards.
Facing 2-and-12 at the Chester 27 yard line, Wesclin’s Cael Madden attempted another pass with just .53 to play. That pass was intercepted by Chester’s Zane Eggemeyer, a 5’10”, 165 Lb. defensive back. The Jacket defenders had back-to-back interceptions on Wesclin’s last two possessions. Eggemeyer ran the ball to Wesclin’s 40 yard line to end the 3rd quarter with Chester leading, 35-13.
Chester had the ball to open the 4th quarter. Alex Blechle ran for a first down to open the Jacket possession. A holding penalty against Chester took the ball back to the Wesclin 29 yard line. Chester faced Trey McCartney who caught a pass to give CHS a first down at the 5 yard line with 10:05 to play in the game.
On the next play, Ethan Colvis connected with Chester wide receiver TaShawn Palacio for a 5-yard touchdown. Karim Landeros kicked his 6th extra point of the game to give the YellowJackets a 42-13 lead. The TD was Palacio’s 4th of the game, all were on passes.
Wesclin took the kickoff to Chester’s 43 yard line with over 8 minutes to play in the game. The Warriors used the next six minutes to orchestrate one final drive to the YellowJacket 3 yard line. Chester held Warriors to 4-and-1 with 2:35 remaining. Quarterback Cael Madden then handed off to running back William Waggoner who scampered into the end zone for a final touchdown of the game. Layne Hays kicked the extra point and the Warriors pulled within 22 points of Chester, 42-20, with 2:02 on the clock.
The Jackets ran one play before taking a knee to end the game and winning, 42-20. With the win, Chester improved to an overall record of 4-1 and a Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division unblemished record of 2-0.
In the win, the Jackets ran 46 plays. Wesclin ran 62 plays. The YellowJackets had a total of 319 yards (208 passing & 111 rushing). The Warriors recorded a total of 211 yards (11 passing and & 200 rushing). The Jackets recorded 13 first downs and the Warriors recorded 16 first downs. Chester had 2 turnovers, both fumbles. Wesclin had 3 turnovers, all interceptions. CHS committed 4 penalties for 21 yards. WHS were called for 5 penalties for 23 yards.
Chester passed 16 times and completed 11 (69%). Tray Peters completed 10-of-14 (71%) for 203 yards and 5 touchdowns, Ethan Colvis completed 1-for-1 (100%) and 1 touchdown. Alex Blechle passed once with no completions. Wesclin’s Cael Madden passed 13 times and completed three (23%) for 11 yards and no touchdowns. He threw 3 interceptions.
Chester rushed 26 times for 111 yards with no touchdowns and two fumbles. Ethan Colvis ran 10 times 36 yards and 1 fumble. Alex Blechle ran 3 times for 30 yards and 1 fumble. Zane Eggemeyer ran 4 times for 25 yards. Tray Peters ran 6 times for 20 yards. Donnie Sabo ran once with no yardage. Anthony Keeton ran once for no yardage.
The Warriors rushed 44 times for a total of 200 yards and 1 touchdown. William Waggoner was the Warrior’s work horse. He ran 26 times for 121 yards and 2 touchdowns. The rest of the Wesclin team ran 18 times for 79 yards and one touchdown. Cael Madden ran for the Warrior’s 3rd TD on a 1-yard keeper.
YellowJacket receivers caught 11 passes for 208 yards and six touchdowns. TaShawn Palacio had 5 receptions for 129 yards and 4 touchdowns. Trey McCartney had 5 receptions for 76 yards and 1 touchdown. Zane Eggemeyer had 1 reception for 3 yards and 1 touchdown.
The Chester defense was busy throughout the game with 18 solo tackles, 64 tackle assists, and 2 tackles for a loss. TaShawn Palacio led with 4 solos and 5 tackle assists. Other key defensive contributors included Ethan Colvis (2 solo, 7 assists & 2 TFL), Kanon Jany (2 solos & 4 assists), Trey McCartney (2 solos & 4 assists), Morgan Miers (2 solos & 3 assists), Alex Blechle (1 solo & 1 assist), Rhett Creason (1 solo & 5 assists), Bently Valleroy (1 solo & 5 assists), Avery Wittenborn (1 solo & 3 assists).Kanon Jany, Zane Eggemeyer, and Derrius Shoemate each had interceptions.
Coach Billy Belton said, “The boys played great against Wesclin. We started kind of slow on offense. Wesclin did a good job of slowing down our run. Tray and TaShawn did an amazing job. TaShawn had four receiving touchdowns and ray threw for five touchdowns.”
T wasn’t just them, however, Trey McCartney a huge receiving game. He had two huge catches, both on 4th down to keep our drives alive. He really got the offense started with that first catch. Zane Eggemeyer also had a receiving touchdown and Alex Blechle ran the ball hard. It was a great team effort.”
“We know that everyone is going to try to stop Ethan Colvis (#25). It was great to see everyone step up! TaShawn has two 51-yard catches for TD’s. One was on 4th down and he really got the offense started. He played great! Tray Peters had another great game. He did amazing jog scrambling and keeping the play alive. He did a good job finding the open man! This was Tray’s second game with five passing touchdowns.”
“Wesclin is a really physical team. They played extremely hard. They run the ball well. Their quarterback and running back are really good. The defense made some big plays with three interceptions, two of whioch led to touchdowns.”
Belton said, “This was a great win. WE are now 2-0 in the conference. It was a great team win! We had a bunch of players step up and plat amazing football. I am so very proud of the boys!”
Next up for the YellowJackets will be a road trip to Carlyle this Friday October 3rd for a third Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division game.
TaShawn Palacio (11) scores his first of four touchdowns vs Wesclin at the 5:05 mark of the first quarter on a 51-yard pass reception. Karim Landeros kicked the extra point to tie the game, 7-7. Jim Beers Photo
Chester running back Ethan Colvis (25) goes for extra yardage before being brought down by Wesclin’s (24) Kullen Doty, a 5’11”, 210 defensive end. Jim Beers Photo
TaShawn Palacio (11) scores his second of four touchdowns vs Wesclin Friday September 26. The TD was the result of a second 51-yard pass reception thrown by Chester quarterback Tray Peters at the 11:42 mark of the 2nd quarter. In this photo Wesclin’s Christian Lopez (3) gives up after chasing Palacio for 50 yards to no avail. Jim Beers Photo