Stingers Frosh fall to Dupo, 26-6

Alex Simmons ran for three touchdowns, and Dupo capitalized on an injury to TaShawn Palacio to upset the Stingers Frosh, 26-6, on Sunday at W.O. Smith Field.

Palacio ran for 109 yards and a touchdown for Chester before exiting the game with a leg injury late in the first half. He returned briefly on defense in the second half, but left again and did not return to the game.

The Stingers' offense suffered without Palacio, managing only 26 yards in the second half.

"He's an athlete that's hard to replace," said Chester coach Danny Valleroy of Palacio. "We did what we could, but losing a key part of your offense is a tough hit to take.

"(Dupo) came out and beat us, they had a good crew."

Dupo (7-2) cracked the scoreboard first when Brady Portell took a sweep around the left side for a 57-yard touchdown with 4:24 left in the first quarter. The Little Tigers' extra point try failed.

Chester came right back and got its lone touchdown on a 31-yard run by Palacio with 1:34 left in the first quarter.

The Stingers' extra point try failed as well, leaving the teams with a 6-6 tie.

Simmons gave Dupo the only lead it would need on his first touchdown of the game with 1:42 left in the second quarter. Simmons found the end zone from six yards out and Kason Muskop ran in the extra point.

The Little Tigers took a 13-6 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Simmons ran for a 20-yard touchdown in the third quarter and capped off the day with a 52-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

"It was a great season," Valleroy said. "We started off hot and it seemed like later in the season we fizzled out.

"I don't know if the season is too long or what it is, but I don't know, it's crazy."

Zane Eggemeyer also ran for 41 yards on nine carries for the Stingers, while Tyler McConnell added 19 yards on five carries.

At quarterback, Eggemeyer was 1-for-1 passing for one yard, a reception by Kross Jany. Defensively, Palacio and Eggemeyer led Chester with five tackles each.

Trey McCartney contributed four and Tyler McConnell and Jany each added three. Chester finished its season at 7-2.

"Next year, we've got a lot of boys moving up," Valleroy said. "We've got a lot of young guys coming in and we'll have to start from scratch again.

"I think we've got 17 of our boys moving up. Next year, we'll be young."

With the win, third-seeded Dupo moved on to face top seed Red Bud (9-0) this weekend for the Southwest Illinois Youth Football Conference freshman championship.

The Muskets got all they could handle from No. 4 seed Pinckneyville in a 40-33 victory on Sunday.

In other SWIYFC playoff action, the Chester sophomores fell to Red Bud, 6-0, to end their season at 7-2.

Red Bud will face Freeburg, a 48-13 winner over Dupo on Sunday, this weekend for the sophomores championship.

The Chester JV won its last game of the season on Sunday with a 6-0 win over Pinckneyville. The JV Stingers finish the season with a record of 2-7.

And finally, the Stingers Varsity fell to Freeburg, 14-12, on Sunday to end their season at 1-8. Freeburg will play Sparta this weekend.