Chester varsity welcomes Hamilton County for season opener
<span>CHESTER -- With a rebuilt backfield, the Chester varsity football team begins the season with a home game against Hamilton County at W.O. Smith Field.</span>
<span>The Yellow Jackets lost 16 seniors after last season's 8-2 campaign, which ended with a 30-25 loss to Carmi-White County in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs.</span>
<span>It was the Bulldogs' first playoff win in seven years, while Chester is still looking for its first postseason victory since beating Carterville in 2001.</span>
<span>"We need to stay injury-free," said Chester coach Bryan Lee, when asked to name his three keys to the season. "We've got some pretty good players, but we don't have a great deal of depth.</span>
<span>"We need some guys in the interior to mature a little bit and play the way they can play. The big key is we need to stay true to our traditions and fly to the ball, be physical, and if we can do those things, I think good things will happen for us."</span>
<span>SICA All-South selections Jake Lochhead, Justin Marks, Joel Clendenin and Brad Asselmeier all graduated in May, leaving only junior tight end/linebacker Jordan Berner back from Chester's All-South group.</span>
<span>The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Berner was named a first-team, all-Black Diamond Conference selection at linebacker after compiling 119 tackles and leading the team with 11.9 per game.</span>
<span>"We are young in places," Lee said on his defense. "Our defensive backs are a little bit inexperienced, but we have a pretty good amount of speed.</span>
<span>"We have our All-South linebacker (Berner) back and a couple of other kids playing linebacker there and I think we're going to be alright."</span>
<span>Offensively, Wyatt Ruehling takes over at quarterback for Chester and the 6-foot-1, 185-pound senior will have some new faces behind him as the Yellow Jackets graduated their top three running backs in Clendenin, Asselmeier and Kramer Eggemeyer.</span>
<span>"Every game, I've got to lay it all on the line," Ruehling said. "There's no holding back as each play could be my last.</span>
<span>"These have been the greatest days of my life and I've got to enjoy them. And I plan to."</span>
<span>Hamilton County has its third new coach in the past four years, as Brian Blades takes over for Mark Beitler.</span>
<span>The Foxes went 1-17 in two seasons under Beitler and have won just two games combined in the past three.</span>
<span>"We expect them to spread the ball out and try and make the field as wide as they can," Lee said. "They've got a really big tight end they're going to try and get involved in the game and have 17 seniors, so they've got some experience.</span>
<span>"They've got a new coach, so there's always some excitement when that happens."</span>
<span>According to the McLeansboro Times-Leader, Blades was Hamilton County's freshman coach under Beitler. He was promoted to the top role in June.</span>
<span>Hamilton County hasn't made the playoffs since 2006 under coach Jeff Rush, who was an assistant under Beitler.</span>
<span>"In some ways, they're a dangerous Week 1 opponent," Lee said. "If it doesn't go well for them, you catch a team with a new coach that's taken some knocks and later in the season, it's a lot easier to play them than earlier in the year.</span>
<span>"I'm sure their coach will have them ready and it will be a hard-fought game for us."</span>
<span>Kickoff on Friday is set for 7 p.m.</span>
Last time against Hamilton County:
<span>Joel Clendenin and Brad Asselmeier combined for 227 rushing yards to lead Chester to a 53-12 win over the Foxes.</span>
<span>The Yellow Jackets held Hamilton County to just 155 yards of total offense, including 70 yards on the ground.</span>
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