09-24-2021
BY JACK BULLOCK
CHESTER - Chester head coach Billy Belton is getting the most out of his unique opportunity this fall.

The coach has 14 seniors on his roster, all of which have contributed to a now 4-1 beginning of the 2021-22 campaign.

Having coached all of these kids since they were in eighth grade, Belton has seen the improvement and the maturation process come to fruition.

The Yellow Jackets on Friday night man-handled visiting Trenton-Wesclin, holding the Warriors to under 100 yards on offense in a 48-6 win.

After a season opening loss to DuQuoin, Chester has rattled off four consecutive victories as they now sit at 2-0 in the newly formed Illinois Division of the Cahokia Conference.

The Yellow Jackets' offensive was also a bright spot, pounding the opposition with 247 yards on the ground and 214 yards in the air.

Senior signal caller Ethan Stumpe was 12-of-16 passing with a pair of touchdown passes to both Isaac Janey and Cooper Eggemeyer, his senior teammates.

Senior running back Jordan Merideth led the offensive attack, accumulating 216 yards of total offense.

Merideth rushed nine times for 114 yards and a pair of touchdowns while also catching four of Stumpe's throws for an additional 102 yards and another TD.

Eggemeyer and Merideth caught four passes each while senior running back Freddie Alvarez snagged another three receptions.

“Our defense played amazing tonight. Our defensive ends worked on their counter. They (Trenton-Wesclin) run the counter very well. Our whole defense played awesome tonight,” said Coach Belton. “It is exciting for the seniors. We always talk about them running out of games (to play) and it was fun tonight. This is a very good group. They have worked hard and gotten better in all four years. It's easy to coach seniors like this.”

For the Warriors, things didn't go well on this night.

Head coach Ray Kauling didn't see his team score points until late in the game and his offense never got on track as Trenton-Wesclin fell to 1-4 overall.

After picking up their first win of the season the previous week against Dupo, the Warriors were no match for the senior led Yellow Jackets.

The Chester defense dominated this game, holding the Warriors to minus-10 yards total on 23 rushing attempts.

Six-foot-one sophomore quarterback Tristin Elling hit on just 5-of-16 passes for 104 yards on night.

However he was also intercepted off three times while being harassed on the night by the Yellow Jackets defensive line.

Stumpe and Merideth hooked up early for a quick Chester lead.

It took just three plays after taking the opening kickoff to find the end zone.

Eggemeyer dropped back to pass on third down from their own 36 yard line.

He found Merideth sprinting down the right sideline.

His completion resulted in a 64 yard touchdown pass.

Chester kicker Jared Landeros converted his first of six PAT's for a 7-0 lead with 10:46 left in the first quarter.

“Jordan Merideth is a special player. I think he had a hundred yards receiving and a hundred yards rushing tonight. He is just special,” said Coach Belton. “We are lucky he is on our team.”

After recovering a Chester onside kick, Trenton-Wesclin couldn't move the ball and punted.

If you are looking for any sort of problem the Yellow Jackets had on Friday night, it was with “yellow” laundry on the field.

Chester was flagged for 11 penalties for 98 yards in the game, including five in the first quarter.

Although it slowed them down a bit early on offense, Coach Belton's club overcame the mistakes.

Chester went 64 yards on it's next drive with Janey running up the middle the final 15 yards for their second score of the contest.

Another PAT made it 14-0 with 6:45 remaining.

Elling threw his first pick on the second play after the Chester TD.

However the Yellow Jackets, with three more penalties in the quarter, couldn't move the ball.

Nevertheless the penalty issues only delayed the inevitable.

After a Trenton-Wesclin punt gave the ball to Chester at the Yellow Jackets' 38 yard line, Merideth took just a few seconds to add to his teams' lead.

His run through an opening on the right side produced another dazzling run.

Merideth sped to the end zone for a 62 yard touchdown and a 21-0 lead after another Landeros boot.

The Warriors managed to drive the ball to the Chester 46 yard line but a sack and a holding penalty pushed Trenton-Wesclin back to their own 33 yard line.