CHS football team celebrates season with banquet
<span>CHESTER -- Chester football coach Bryan Lee called it "three lousy points" from the Final Four.</span>
<span>The Chester High School football team celebrated its 2014 season with its annual banquet on Monday inside the high school cafeteria.</span>
<span>Players, parents, coaches and supporters joined together to celebrate the Yellow Jackets' 10-2 season that culminated in the first Class 2A Elite Eight appearance in school history.</span>
<span>"I know that it is winter and we're having a banquet for a fall sport, but I hope you can forgive me," Lee said. "It was a combination of weather, basketball and the fact that I am always hesitant for the finality of it being over."</span>
<span>Chester has won 27 of its last 32 games, with three Black Diamond Conference championships in 2014, 2013 and 2012. While two of those were shared with Johnston City and Fairfield, the scale of the program's accomplishments hasn't been lost.</span>
<span>"We have come a long way and I couldn't be more honored," Lee said. "When I first got here, I used the phrase 'Someday, champions will play in the house I helped build.'</span>
<span>"Now, they do. They have done it through will, character and lots of hard work."</span>
<span>Junior Jordan Berner was named to the Illinois Coaches Association All-South team at linebacker, while junior Garret Hoffman was named All-South at defensive line.</span>
<span>Both were also first-team All-BDC selections.</span>
<span>Other all-conference selections included defensive end Jacob Golding (second team defense), defensive back Issiac Wingerter (second team defense), running back Blake Eggemeyer (second team offense), lineman Cody Eggemeyer (second team offense), split end Hunter Howie (second team offense) and quarterback Wyatt Ruehling (second team offense.</span>
<span>Berner was also named the BDC MVP and was an All-State selection for Class 2A. On Monday, he was named the Team MVP for Chester after a season in which he led the Yellow Jackets with 617 yards and seven touchdowns at tight end and 113 tackles and seven interceptions at linebacker.</span>
<span>"We had another great year," Lee said. "We had ups and downs and our road was paved with growing pains and lessons learned."</span>
<span>One of those lessons was a Week 5 loss to Johnston City, which Lee called a "pivot point" for the remainder of Chester's season. In the Sweet 16 postseason rematch on Nov. 8, the Yellow Jackets got their revenge in a 35-7 victory.</span>
<span>"I will be honest with you," Lee said. "The team that started the season was not the same team that finished it. And that is a good thing."</span>
<span>Against Tuscola in the Elite Eight, Chester fell behind 17-7 before mounting a ferocious comeback.</span>
<span>After a touchdown from Charles Morefield cut Tuscola's lead to 17-14, the Yellow Jackets got to the Tuscola 10-yard line with 51 seconds left. But a pass from Ruehling, intended for Berner, was intercepted by Tuscola's Josh Knight to seal the Warriors' victory.</span>
<span>"So, so close," Lee said.</span>
<span>Other team award-winners for Chester included a tie for Offensive MVP between Ruehling and Blake Eggemeyer and a tie for Defensive MVP between Cody Eggemeyer and Wingerter. The Most Valuable Lineman went to Hoffman, while the Coach's Award went to Howie.</span>
<span>Charles Morefield received the Extra Effort Award, while Tristen Juenger got the Most Improved award.</span>
<span>Looking toward August, Chester will return four of its all-conference selections, both All-South selections and will look to fill the loss of its 12 seniors from a successful junior varsity team that went 5-2 in 2014.</span>
<span>"This is a group of kids that I would want as my sons," Lee said of his senior class. "A group I will deeply and truly miss seeing every day. A group that makes Chester proud."</span>