Yellow Jackets ready for the season
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Change is definitely in the air at Chester's high school football program. The Yellow Jackets, who finished with a 7-3 record overall last year, will take part in a different conference and play in a renovated stadium this season.
Chester leaves behind many long-time rivals in the Southern Illinois River to River Conference as they switch places with Carterville and join the Black Diamond Conference.
Fans have already had two good chances to check out the renovated W.O. Smith Field and the football squads at the Midnight Madness practice and the Soup Scrimmage, but the games start for real on Friday when Chester hosts Sesser-Valier.
Head coach Bryan Lee and his players have to be ready from the start as Sesser-Valier is the defending champion of the Black Diamond, going 9-0 in the conference last season before getting upset in the first round of the playoffs.
Other home games for the Yellow Jackets include Christopher (4-5 last year) on Sept. 10, homecoming on Oct. 1 against Eldorado (2-7) and Oct. 15 against Hamilton County (4-5).
The Varsity team will hit the road five times this season, taking on Carmi-White County (4-5) on Sept. 3, Elverado (0-9) on Sept. 18, Johnson City (5-5) on Sept 24, Fairfield (8-3) on Oct. 8 and Vienna (3-6) on Oct 23. Most games are on Fridays at 7:00, but the Elverado and Vienna games are Saturday afternoon specials starting at 1:00.
The Sophomore and Freshman teams will also be tested against an unfamiliar slate of new conference opponents. Each team is scheduled for eight games this season.
Dealing with change can be difficult, but the Chester Yellow Jackets football program appears ready to make history in the 2010 season.