The Undefeated Season
<span>CHESTER -- Cayden Brunkhorst ran for 91 yards and two touchdowns, and the Chester Freshman 2 Stingers shrugged off an early touchdown by Red Bud for a 26-7 win on Sunday at W.O. Smith Field.</span>
<span>With the victory, the Freshman 2 team finished an undefeated 10-0 in capturing the Southwestern Illinois Youth Football Conference (SWIFC) championship for the freshman division.</span>
<span>"Definitely our defense," said Chester coach Jarrod Peters on what the difference was. "Our defense has kept us in games all year long. I think we were only allowing four and a half points a game.</span>
<span>"That's always been something I've been a firm believer in, defense wins championships and that's what happened here today."</span>
<span>Trayton Peters added 89 yards and a touchdown, while Zain Al-Jassim contributed 77 yards and a score. The Stingers finished with 12 first downs and 257 yards rushing as a team.</span>
<span>"They're our workhorses," Coach Peters said of the trio. "That's who we rely on to run the football and that's who we rely on to get yards.</span>
<span>"Like I reminded them all year, they're not doing that stuff without the offensive line working for them and making holes for them."</span>
<span>Red Bud (8-2) got off to a good start, getting a 62-yard touchdown run from quarterback Owen Liefer on the first play of the game. The Stingers settled in after that and got on the scoreboard with a 45-yard run from Al-Jassim with 6:12 left in the second quarter.</span>
<span>The extra point try failed, which left the Muskets with a slim 7-6 lead.</span>
<span>"I think it was more shell-shock to them," Coach Peters said of his team after Red Bud's touchdown. "They couldn't believe it, I don't think it's ever happened to them before.</span>
<span>"It was kind of in their ear and out their ear and it was over with."</span>
<span>Brunkhorst's first touchdown of the game, a 51-yarder, put the Stingers in front for good with 2:16 left in the second quarter. Red Bud came back down the field and had second-and-goal on the Chester 8 with 11 seconds left, but Liefer was tackled at the 5 to send the teams into halftime.</span>
<span>The second half was all Chester, as Peters scored on a 40-yard run with 9:07 left in the third quarter for a 20-7 Stingers lead and Brunkhorst capped the scoring with a 11-yard touchdown with 8:17 left in the game.</span>
<span>"Just the heart of the kids," Coach Peters said, when asked what his favorite part is of working with them. "Seeing them out here and having fun, I love it to death. I love kids and anything I can do to help them, I'll do it."</span>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-ab646c33-973a-5206-0bf6-e23cf060115b"><span>Defensively, Owen Lee led Chester with 10 tackles, including two for loss. Devante Palacio had nine (one for loss), Gene Bicket had eight (three for loss) and Brenden Malley had seven (one for loss).</span></span>