Chester gets first playoff win since 2001

<span>CHESTER -- A drought, a streak, a curse, whatever you want to call it, Chester ended it on Saturday against Carmi-White County at W.O. Smith Field.</span>

<span>Jordan Berner hauled in two touchdown passes, picked off Carmi quarterback Jake Simon twice and the Yellow Jackets (9-1) built a 21-0 lead in a 21-8 win over the Bulldogs for their first postseason victory since 2001.</span>

<span>"It's awesome, our coaches have never had this during their time at Chester," Berner said. "This is for the coaches."</span>

<span>The win was also Chester coach Bryan Lee's first postseason victory in seven seasons at the Home of Popeye, having gone 0-5 previously - including a 30-25 loss to Carmi in 2013.</span>

<span>"I think it's a big deal, especially for the group that we have," Lee said. "They're smart kids. They know that not a whole lot of folks in preseason could see this kind of success for them and I think if you told them Week 10 that they would have nine wins, they would have been very surprised.</span>

<span>"It means a lot for the program as well, it's been awhile since we've won a playoff game, I've not won a playoff game here and I will say the community has been very good in that I have never been approached about it."</span>

<span>Both defenses worked hard to stop the ground game, as Chester's leading rusher - Blake Eggemeyer - was held to just 37 yards on 11 carries. The junior running back had only five yards on six carries in the first half.</span>

<span>On the other sideline, Logan Weller finished with 23 yards on 11 carries for Carmi, while Tyson Russell added 53 yards on 14 carries.</span>

<span>"It's odd, because a lot of our offensive line, a lot of those guys are on defensive line as well and I thought (with) our offensive line, (Carmi) gave us a lot of problems with the (defensive) front they were running," Lee said. "Our defensive line, we were getting pressure on their sophomore quarterback (Simon) and usually when you do that, good things happen.</span>

<span>"The kids were high-motor and we talked about being high-motor all week."</span>

<span>Under pressure for most of the game, Simon finished 2-for-15 for 69 yards and the two picks. He was also sacked four times.</span>

<span>"We put Jake Golding down at defensive end four or five weeks ago and he has really helped us on the edge and he is a good complement to Andrew Frazer," Lee said. "The kids were outsized (on the line), but they got off the ball very well and it's a credit to (defensive coordinator Jeremy) Blechle and his game planning to put them in places where I thought (Carmi) would struggle to do the things they wanted to do."</span>

<span>Chester quarterback Wyatt Ruehling was 4-for-14 for 112 yards, with Berner accounting for 92 of those on two receptions.</span>

<span>Double-covered by the 5-foot-8 Weller and 5-foot-7 Wyatt Nelson, the 6-foot-5 Berner made it look easy on a pair of similar plays in the second and third quarters.</span>

<span>Berner's first touchdown catch of 47 yards came with 17 seconds left in the second quarter. His second one, a 45-yarder, came with 10:32 left in the third quarter.</span>

<span>"We had felt like it had been a defensive struggle," Lee said on getting the first touchdown before halftime. "To be honest with you, we felt like our defense would keep us in the game no matter what.</span>

<span>"We played very well, the gameplan was good and we were able to limit them, but going up top (to the locker room) after playing the type of defense that we played, gave us a lot of confidence coming back down (for the second half)."</span>

<span>Chester's third score, with 2:11 left in the third quarter, came after Carmi fumbled a Chester punt deep in its own territory and led to a 3-yard plunge by Ruehling.</span>

<span>The next drive, Simon finally completed his first pass of the game, a nine-yard catch by Clay Vaught with 5:50 remaining, and a 60-yard reception by Drew Lucas set up a 5-yard run by Russell with 3:24 left.</span>

<span>Carmi was able to recover an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, but was not able to achieve a first down.</span>

<span>Up next for Chester is a rematch with Johnston City in a battle of co-conference champions. The Indians beat the Yellow Jackets 28-13 in Week 5, but Chester was without the services of Berner (stomach flu) for much of the contest.</span>

<span>"I would much rather play them with a healthy Jordan Berner than a sick Jordan Berner like we did last time," Lee said. "But it's got to be more than one kid. Jordan's not Superman and we don't need him to be, but being able to play them with Jordan at full health and at full speed is an exciting prospect."</span>

<span>Chester has never won a second-round game in its history, having gone 0-3 previously. In 2001, the Yellow Jackets beat Carterville 20-16 and then lost to LeRoy, 61-29.</span>

Scoring Summary

<p><strong>First Quarter</strong></p>

<p>No Scoring</p>

<p><strong>Second Quarter</strong></p>

<p>CHS - Berner 47 pass from Ruehling (Gray kick), 0:17</p>

<p><strong>Third Quarter</strong></p>

<p>CHS - Berner 45 pass from Ruehling (Gray kick), 10:32</p>

<p>CHS - Ruehling 3 run (Gray kick), 2:11</p>

<p><strong>Fourth Quarter</strong></p>

<p>CWC - Russell 5 run (Large pass from Simon), 3:24</p>