Chester varsity shuts out Hamilton County to open season
<span>CHESTER -- It can be argued that things started badly for Hamilton County right from the coin toss on Friday.</span>
<span>Chester won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, but the Hamilton County captains said they wanted to kick off, giving the Yellow Jackets the ball to start both halves.</span>
<span>And Chester made the most of those opportunities, getting four touchdowns from Blake Eggemeyer on scores of 4, 6, 1 and 2 yards in a 42-0 win over the Foxes.</span>
<span>Eggemeyer finished with 64 yards on a team-high 18 carries.</span>
<span>"We got a fast start and that was good for us," said Chester coach Bryan Lee. "There were some question marks here or there coming in and it was key for us to score early."</span>
<span>Chester got its first touchdown on a Eggemeyer's first touchdown just 57 seconds into the game and took a 9-0 lead on a safety less than a minute later.</span>
<span>As a team, Hamilton County was held to just three first downs and 70 yards of total offense - 48 of which came on the ground.</span>
<span>"A lot," Lee said on what the shutout means to his defense's confidence. "They know they can defend the pass and know what they need to do.</span>
<span>"Even in the pros, they always talk about playing the next play and for us, we've got a chance to make some mistakes, but not mistakes that were catastrophic."</span>
<span>The Yellow Jackets spread the ball around offensively, with five players getting at least five carries each. Luke Hartman contributed 60 yards on seven carries, but didn't score.</span>
<span>"I really liked Luke Hartman running the ball," Lee said. "Luke Hartman, outside of his pads, looks like the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz.</span>
<span>"There's not much to him, but that kid got the ball and kept running and running and running. I think that exemplifies what I'm most proud of and that is the effort the kids put in."</span>
<span>Chester held a 22-0 lead at halftime and increased it to 28-0 on a 7-yard touchdown catch from Jordan Berner with 9:08 left in the third quarter and the extra point try failed.</span>
<span>"We talked all summer, and even into the fall, about how we lost some great players, but it's about the name on the front of the jersey, not the back and I think the kids did a great job of representing the name on the front of the jersey," Lee said.</span>
<span>Up next for Chester is the first of two Saturday road games this season. The Yellow Jackets will face Vienna-Goreville at 1 p.m.</span>
<span>The Eagles lost their season opener to Johnston City, 29-0, on Friday.</span>
Last time against Vienna-Goreville:
<span>Joel Clendenin ran for 157 yards and three touchdowns, and Brad Asselmeier contributed 116 yards and three scores as Chester beat Vienna-Goreville 47-13.</span>