Red Bud, however, took advantage of the fifth Chester turnover to set up the short game winning drive.

Junior quarterback Dylan Oliver completed a pair of important passes in the final march, one to senior receiver Sam Easter on a key third down, and a 10-yard TD connection to junior wide out Zach Manning.

The game-winning and back-breaking score to Manning occurred with just :28.7 left in the fourth quarter.

Kicker Lane Brockmeyer, who was one of the standouts on the night punting the ball, nailed the PAT to give the Musketeers a hard fought 7-0 first round playoff win.

Coach Dave Lucht and his club, now 8-2 on the year, will play either #4 seed Athens or #13 Piasa Southwestern next weekend on the road.

“It was big for him (Oliver) to step up and throw some nice passes there at the end, under the conditions that was,” said Coach Lucht. “We're always trying to get that second win (playoffs) and maybe that third win. It's always tough to get to the third game.”

Chester and head coach Billy Belton fought hard the whole game but the late interception set up Red Bud for the game-winning score.

The Yellow Jackets end their season at 5-5 after the loss.

The two rivals played a pair of close games in their previous two encounters with Red Bud winning two weeks ago 14-7 and Chester winning at home 12-7 in 2022.

Neither team put up good numbers on offense.

Chester ended up with just 149-yards of total offense with 47 of the yards coming on 3-of-10 passing attempts by junior quarterback Zain Al-Jassim.

Unfortunately two of his passes ended up intercepted by Red Bud.

“Tonight it was two good defenses going after each other and we ended up the winner's,” said Coach Lucht. “The weather favored us because it effected their passing attack. They had over 300-yards last week (vs. Warrensburg-Latham) and that's been their 'bread-and-butter' for the most part.”

Oliver was 8-of-15, 75-yards and the one touchdown pass to Manning for the Musketeers but his club couldn't run the ball, ending up with 32-carries for just 43-yards.

That stat is misleading because of the final play of the game.

On the ensuing kickoff after the lone score, Chester's Kolton Jany returned the kick.

However Jany fumbled and Red Bud sophomore Jack Ford came up with the recovery with just :17.7 left and the ball on the Chester 19.

The Yellow Jackets still had all three of their timeouts and Coach Belton used them.

After three consecutive kneel downs by Oliver, Red Bud faced a fourth-and-14 from the Chester 23 with :07.5 showing on the game clock.

Instead of taking a fourth kneel down, Oliver took the snap and sprinted back towards his own goal line being chased by Chester defenders.

The junior QB managed to burn up the last :07.5 of the contest, sliding down after a 34-yard loss as the final horn sounded.

“They (Chester) forced us to improvise there. We wanted to just back out (kneel down) but it wasn't taking enough time off the clock,” said Coach Lucht about the final plays running out the clock. “I've never been part of a game that ended that way. It's always something new.”

(CONTINUED)

The closest that either team came to scoring before the final seconds was late in the first half.

Facing a fourth-and-13 from its own 45, Brockmeyer took a snap in punt formation and sprinted down the right side for 17-yards a first down at the Chester 38.

A late hit on the play added 15-yards to the end of the run, giving the Musketeers a prime chance to score before intermission.

Two rushes by Swartzkopf gave Red Bud a first-and-goal from the Yellow Jackets' nine-yard line.

Eventually the drive stalled and Brockmeyer missed a field goal attempt wide left as the two wet and cold teams went to the half with no score.

“He (Brockmeyer) had a big night. He punted the ball well and the fake punt he improvised, we haven't had one all year but we practiced that yesterday,” said Coach Lucht. “I thought that would put us in (endzone).”

Although the pouring rain stopped at halftime, the temperature dropped significantly and the wet field and the defenses made things difficult for both offensive squads.

A couple of key plays for Red Bud nearly got the Musketeers in business deep in Chester territory in the third quarter.

Brockmeyer punted from his own 45 and the ball rolled all the way to the Yellow Jackets' one-yard line.

Chester was forced again to punt and junior punter Devante Palacio's kick got to just the Chester 33.

On the first play junior running back Gavin Baldwin ran down the left sideline for 24-yards.

He then fumbled where Chester defensive back Cayden Brunkhorst recovered the ball at the Yellow Jackets' seven-yard line.

The contest appeared to be headed to overtime late in the fourth quarter.

After another Brockmeyer punt pinned Chester back to its own 10, the Musketeers defense came up with a game-changing turnover.

Al-Jassim dropped back to pass but his attempt was picked off by Red Bud senior Owen Liefer as the defensive back went high in the air to snag the errant throw.

Liefer ended up tackled at the Chester 26 with 3:15 remaining.

“The weather took away some of our passing plays but the boys came out and blocked and adjusted well but we made the one mistake when we couldn't make that, the interception,” said Coach Belton. “It came down to the team that made the mistake it wasn't our night tonight.”

The final drive for the score to send Red Bud to the second round took six plays.

With the ball on the 27 and facing a third-and-11, Oliver found Easter on a slant pass and the senior receiver dragged three Chester defenders for 14-yards and a first down at the Yellow Jackets' 12.

Following a short pass for two-yards to Liefer, Oliver found Manning on another slant pass in the endzone for the score.

Manning managed to hold onto the ball after a collision of four players, two for Chester, two for Red Bud.

A targeting penalty against the Yellow Jackets on the play was assessed on the ensuing kickoff.

Four plays after the fumble, the Musketeers advanced to the second round.

“I couldn't be more proud of the special teams tonight,” said Coach Lucht. “We're just chugging along. We're not a potent offensive team, we're not scoring 20 or 30 points a game. But we're winning.