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Eldorado sets tone early, takes sting out of Yellowjackets

Eldorado set the tone early and rolled to a 38-14 win over Chester in a battle of two unbeaten Black Diamond Conference teams Friday night at Boz Adams Field in Eldorado.

Showing support for the National Guard with camouflaged jerseys, Eldorado improved to 2-0 on the season and join Fairfield (2-0) as the only two unbeaten teams in league play after Carmi fell to Sesser-Valier-Waltonville on Friday night.

Eldorado got the scoring going early in the first quarter on their opening drive when Jacob Etienne scored from 29 yards out and Aidan Kuhn provided the two-point conversion at the 9:32 mark.

Lydayyea Shewmaker, who rank for 132 yards on six carries provided back-to-back scores for Eldorado in the second quarter.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound senior, in his first season of playing football, had a 59-yard scamper down the EHS sideline for his first score, while Kuhn provided the two-point conversion and then Shewmaker showed off his spin and sprint skills as he broke off a 30-yard scored, while Aiden Whitlock hooked up with Etienne for the two-point conversion with 8:07 to play, giving the Eagles a commanding 24-0 lead.

Isaac Burtis then recovered a botched kick off by Chester at the 32-yard line and on the ensuing possession for Eldorado, Whitlock found Ezra Burtis for the touchdown as Burtis then threw to Whitlock for the conversion, making it 32-0 at the half.

Eldorado's only other score came in the third quarter when Kuhn found pay dirt from three yards out and Chester's two scores came in the fourth quarter when Aiden Jany scored from 11 and 19 yards out.

Eldorado outgained Chester 342-236 in total offense Friday, while the Eagles racked up 310 yards on the ground. The Yellowjackets had 193 yards rushing and 43 through the air.

Aside from Shewmakers 132 yards and two scores, Etienne finished with 91 yards on 13 carries, while Blakely Watt had 44 yards on seven carries. Kuhn had 11 touches for 38 yards and Parker Price had two carries for 14 yards.

Chester was led by Jany's 47 yards on four carries, while Ethen Eggemeyer had 31 yards on five carries. Dylan Kelkhoff had six touches for 27 yards and Isaac Jany has 25 yards on one carry.

Ethan Stumpe finished with 18 yards on three carries, while Ethan Bert had 14 yards on nine carries and Jordan Meredith went 10 yards on one carry.

Kelkhoff was 3-for-9 for 43 yards through the air and Whitlock went 1-of-3 for 32 yards under center.

Eldorado will travel to Vienna-Goreville Saturday for a 1 p.m. game, while Chester's Week 3 matchup has the Yellowjackets at home against Fairfield.

Spyder Dann covers prep and college sports for the Southern Illinois Local Media News Group. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.