Penalties, miscues doom Yellow Jackets

Posted August 26, 2016 11:00 pm

By Pete Spitler Staff Writer

EDITOR'S NOTE: See a postgame video with Chester coach Jeremy Blechle and a photo gallery online at www.randolphcountyheraldtribune.com.

FAIRFIELD -- Not much seemed to go right for the Chester football team on Friday at the Trainyard.

More than 100 yards in penalties - plus five fumbles (three lost, including one on the Fairfield 6), an injury to starting quarterback Curt Meyer and the ejection of head coach Jeremy Blechle - snowballed into a 22-12 season-opening loss to the Mules.

"I don't think anything went our way (Friday) as a team, as a group," Blechle said. "We have a lot to work on and the good news is we only lost by 10.

"We had multiple penalties, the offense wasn't necessarily firing on all cylinders, nor the defense."

The game started well enough for Chester, as Fairfield won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half.

The Yellow Jackets began their first offensive drive on their own 38 and went 62 yards in four minutes and 11 seconds, capping off the drive with a 37-yard touchdown reception by Joe Stahlheber on 3rd-and-19.

After that, however, Chester's new-look offense struggled in having its next six possessions end fumble-punt-fumble-fumble-downs-punt.

The Yellow Jackets started to click late in the fourth quarter, getting a three-yard touchdown run by Jake Golding on their final offensive possession of the game.

"There's a lot to learn from this game," Blechle said. "It's where you go from here."

Trailing 16-6 at halftime, Chester's Daltyn Korando was flagged for a jersey violation, a 15-yard penalty, just 21 seconds into the second half.

After voicing his disagreement of the call, Blechle received his own unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and since both penalties occurred on the same play, he was ejected from the game.

"I'm embarrassed for my actions for the way I represented the community and my family," said Blechle, who also apologized to the team after the game. "It's an apology and hopefully, they'll forgive me for overreacting.

"I was upset, just trying to defend one of our players, and I didn't think that warranted an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for a wardrobe malfunction."

The official making the call on the field seemed to tell Blechle that it "was a new rule" this season. According to the National Federation of High Schools' website, one of the Points of Emphasis for the 2016 football season is "legal jerseys, pants and pads."

Blechle told the Herald Tribune after the game that he plans to appeal the penalty to the IHSA on Monday and indicated the penalty occurred because Korando's jersey allegedly didn't stretch over the senior's shoulder pads enough.

If the penalty stands, Blechle will have to serve the automatic one-game suspension that comes with being ejected from a contest and miss next Friday's home opener against Hamilton County.

"I have to conduct myself better and I'm a professional and I need to act that way," Blechle said. "I'll do better."

The loss of their coach seemed to momentarily fire up the Yellow Jackets, who got to the Fairfield 20 on their next offensive possession before turning the ball over on downs.

During that drive, Meyer went down with an apparent ankle injury after a quarterback keeper with 5:56 left in the third quarter. Meyer, a junior, was replaced by his younger brother, sophomore Nick Meyer, at quarterback.

Blechle said the elder Meyer was taken to get x-rays after the game.

"No updates on Curt," Blechle said after the game. "I know a lot of people are worried about him and as soon as I hear something, I'll be sure to send some texts out."

Family members of the Meyer family told the Herald Tribune that Curt had a minor sprained ankle and a "completely sore body" from the physical contest.

Brant McGill, who finished with 112 yards for Fairfield, scored his second touchdown of the game with 8:38 remaining in the game to give the Mules a 22-6 lead after the two-point conversion failed.

"I'm not going to take anything away from Fairfield," Blechle said. "They're tough, good up front, strong, physical and they put it to us (on Friday)."

Up next for Chester is the Foxes next week at W.O. Smith Field, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. Hamilton County fell to Johnston City, 13-0, in a weather-suspended game that was completed Saturday.

"To go out and write their own book, write their own history," Blechle said, when asked what the pregame message to the team was. "Unfortunately, we didn't have the best first chapter, but next week, we're going to have a lot better second chapter."

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing - CHS: Chris Lang 11-86, Jake Golding 7-85 (TD), Demontae Martin 7-28. FRF: Brant McGill 17-112 (2 TD), Devon Butler 13-66, Wyatt Borah 11-40.

Passing (C-A-I) - CHS: Curt Meyer 3-5-0 51, Nick Meyer 3-5-0 34. FRF: Macklin Snyder 1-4-0 12.

Receiving - CHS: Jake Golding 2-29, Joe Stahlheber 1-37 (TD), Demontae Martin 3-19. FRF: Devon Butler 1-12.

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