Chester nearly did it all on Friday against Christopher-Zeigler-Royalton.
The Yellow Jackets (4-3) scored on offense, defense and had a 70-yard kickoff return by William Morefield stopped at the C-Z-R 11 by a diving C-Z-R player as Chester beat the Bearcats, 66-8, on Homecoming at W.O. Smith Field.
“Chester’s known for its defense,” said Chester coach Jeremy Blechle. “They fly around, they hit hard and that’s one thing that we had that was solid and didn’t necessarily need to be fixed as much.
“But what made my heart feel better was the way our offense performed.”
Chester got touchdowns from six different sources in building a 52-0 lead at halftime.
On the other sideline, the Bearcats (0-7) were held to minus-7 yards rushing in the first half, but C-Z-R quarterback Cam Newton and his receivers were still able to move the ball enough for seven first downs.
But this was a decidedly different Chester team than the previous two weeks, when undisciplined play contributed to close losses to Johnston City and Carmi-White County.
Coming into Friday’s contest, the Yellow Jackets had racked up 493 yards in penalties in six games, but Chester was flagged only three times for 25 yards against C-Z-R.
“We took the name plates off the jerseys and our theme all week was that it’s not necessarily what’s on the back of the jersey that counts it’s more about the front,” Blechle said. “It wasn’t a punishment by any means, it was just something that they really had to change their focus and start playing for Chester Yellow Jackets and not for the name that’s printed on the back.”
Chester got the scoring started early, when quarterback Nick Meyer and Savion Smith scored touchdowns 1:39 apart in the first quarter.
Joe Stahlheber increased the Yellow Jackets’ lead to 24-0 when he picked off a Newton pass and returned it 76 yards for the score with 2:41 left in the first quarter. It was the first of three defensive touchdowns on the night for Chester.
“Sometimes teams go years, decades without defensive touchdowns,” Blechle said. “Anything we do, if you get a defensive touchdown, coach (Billy) Belton takes you out for a steak dinner.
“Takes you down to the Eagles and picks a steak off the menu.”
Two touchdowns by Jake Golding 2:15 apart midway through the second quarter pushed Chester’s lead to 38-0.
Savion Smith later picked off a Newton pass with 2:10 left in the first half and returned it 48 yards for the score and a 52-0 Yellow Jacket lead after the two-point conversion attempt failed.
Then in the third, with most of Chester’s junior varsity squad in the game and a running clock, Chester sophomore Eathan Thompson picked up a Newton fumble and took it 47 yards to the house to give Chester a 66-0 lead with 4:07 remaining.
C-Z-R’s Steven Anderson found the end zone from 45 yards out with 7:08 remaining to complete the scoring.
Chester travels to new Black Diamond Conference member Edwards County next week, while C-Z-R hosts Hamilton County for senior night.
C-Z-R coach Josh McCurren was unavailable for comment after the game.
