Well-played team victory, 24-11 win for Yellow Jackets

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ It was a strong balance of offense and defense that earned the Chester Yellow Jacket Varsity football team their second straight victory Friday night over the Fredericktown Blackcats, maintaining their season as an undefeated force. Allowing only one touchdown from the Blackcats, the Yellow Jacket players and fans turned up the volume, scoring in the second, third, and fourth quarter and shutting down the Fredericktown offense in the second half altogether. Coach Bryan Lee agreed, "It was not so tight a game. [Fredericktown] had one big play at the end of the first half off the hands of one good quarterback."

Lee credits the victory to the determination of his players and quality calls from Offensive Coordinator Jim Howie and Defensive Coordinator Jeremy Blechle.

Fredericktown returned the opening kickoff to the 29 yard line and tried to open up their passing offense early, but after a 15 yard penalty and two dropped passes, they were forced to punt. Senior Tim Sullins began the ground attack for the Yellow Jackets with two first downs, then a holding call against Chester brought up 1st and 21 from their own 34 yard line. Junior Danny Roth lost control of the ball on one of the following plays to give possession back to the Blackcats. Fredericktown then broke through with a 17 yard run on 3rd and 6, but the Chester defense held them off to only a field goal with 3:24 left in the first quarter.

The Yellow Jackets slipped up on the kick return at the 10 yard line, handled by Senior Issac McMullin, but held onto possession for the majority of the second quarter. Junior quarterback Zach Lochhead pulled off a six yard run on 3rd and 8 and as the Jacket offense moved up the field to 4th and 2, W.O. Smith Field began to thunder as Jacket fans cheered on their team from the bleachers. It seemed that the crowd syched out the Blackcat defense as a flag was thrown for encroachment. This crucial moment allowed Jacket rushers Tim Sullins, Danny Roth, and John Baughman to continue down the field toward the Blackcat endzone until Baughman cut around the defense for the Jacket's first touchdown of the game with 2:53 left in the first half. A short slant pass to Senior Dan Adams added on two for the home team to bring the score to 8-3.

As the Yellow Jackets continued to pressure the Fredericktown offense, a 37 yard pass was released and connected for a Blackcat Touchdown. Coach Blechle acknowledged that the evening's defense was "better than at Carlyle," but the secondary was caught "watching the quarterback instead of the ball." To the credit of the defense, Fredericktown never scored again.

Continuing in the third quarter to provide steady defense, the Jackets held Fredericktown to a game total of only seven first downs, opening the door early in the third quarter for a 37 yard touchdown run for Baughman. A conversion pass from Lochhead to junior Justin Woodward added on two points to give the lead back to Chester, 16-11.

Baughman, who totaled 103 yards for the day, commented after the game, "A team is only as good as their blockers." Coach Lee added that, "Baughman was set up well by Sullins and Roth, who totaled 119 and 53 yards respectively, and Coach Howie's calls forced the defense to make difficult decisions."

Essentially, their mistakes were Chester's gains and the Jackets would continue to gain further into the second half.

In the fourth quarter, Chester scored a final touchdown on a 2 yard rush by Roth, followed by a conversion rush by Baughman. The Varsity Yellow Jackets totaled 299 yards on the ground with an additional 12 yards by way of the pass. Tim Sullins led in carries with 22, followed by Roth with 12, and Baughman at 8 carries. The Jacket offense gained 21 first downs in four quarters but unfortunately were taken back 80 yards in eight penalties.

Coach Lee made it clear that, "During practice next week there will be a giant P on the board for penalties. Our team focus is always on discipline and a disciplined team should not have so many penalties, but no one can take away what these boys accomplished today."

Chester will return to W.O. Smith Field on Friday to take on the Trenton-Wesclin Warriors. Kickoff will be at 7:00 p.m.

The Warriors (1-1) lost to Red Bud last Friday night 36-6.