The Chester Yellow Jackets beat Red Bud 12-7 on Friday, Oct. 14, in Chester to win the Kaskaskia Conference Illinois Division and secure a post-season playoff berth..

The Yellow Jackets scored a touchdown on their first drive but there was a flag on the play so the touchdown didn’t count, which messed up their momentum on that drive. The Jackets rebounded, however, scoring on a later drive when Zain Al-Jassim hit Devante Palacio on a touchdown pass. The two-point conversion failed, but Chester led 6-0.
Red Bud responded with a long touchdown drive and took a 7-6 lead into the fourth quarter.

On Red Bud’s last drive of the game, they were marching down the field when Garret Hopkins sacked their quarterback and he fumbled the ball straight to Nate Heuer. Heuer returned the fumble about 60 yards for the winning touchdown.
Al-Jassim threw for 92 passing yards and one touchdown. Palacio had 5 receptions with 59 receiving yards and a touchdown. Kolton Jany had 13 carries for 58 rushing yards.

Red Bud was talking a lot of trash but could not back it up. Matthew James had 3.5 tackles and 2 tackles for a loss. Shane Bicket had 4 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack, and 1 forced fumble.. Nate Heuer had 4.5 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 defensive touchdown.

The win gave Chester a perfect 5-0 record in the Kaskaskia Conference, Illinois Division, securing a post-season playoff berth. Both teams had entered the game 4-0 in conference, but the Jackets managed to defend their conference crown. Chester improved to 5-3 on the season, but playoff hopes were not certain without the win over Red Bud.
The Jackets travel to non-conference Pearl City at 1 p.m. Saturday to close the regular season.

Gallery • 9 Photos

Devante Palacio goes up for a pass in the win over Red Bud.