Chester varsity rallies past SVWW, 54-36
CHESTER -- Wyatt Ruehling's 1-yard plunge with 28 seconds left in the third quarter broke a 28-all tie, and Chester overcame an early 22-6 deficit for a 54-36 win over Sesser-Valier-Waltonville-Woodlawn on Friday at W.O. Smith Field.
<span>Ruehling was 8-of-17 passing for 195 yards and two touchdowns, as the Yellow Jackets (3-0) broke the game open with 20 straight points bridging the third and fourth quarters.</span>
<span>Blake Eggemeyer added 50 yards rushing on 14 carries with three touchdowns for Chester, which allowed 264 passing yards to Red Devils quarterback Nick Marlo.</span>
<span>"It's hard to identify a third quarter or a fourth quarter because that was the longest game ever," said Chester coach Bryan Lee of the three-hour plus contest. "I think there were a couple of things that were at play.</span>
<span>"First and foremost, Sesser-Valier is a good football team and I think is the No. 1 offense in Southern Illinois for a reason. But at the same time, I think the sweat equity we put in all summer pays off."</span>
<span>After being limited to just 21 yards on the ground as a team in the first half, the Yellow Jackets (3-0) got much better production in the second half and finished with 192 rushing yards on 37 attempts.</span>
<span>"We have a little bit of depth at places," Lee said. "Having multiple running backs worked well for us again."</span>
<span>S-V-W-W's pass-heavy attack led it to its 16-point deficit after Logan Barrett caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Marlo with 1:42 left in the second quarter.</span>
<span>But Chester marched down the field and Jordan Berner caught a 7-yard pass from Ruehling with no time left on the clock and tacked on the conversion to cut the Red Devils' lead to 22-14 at the break.</span>
<span>"We knew we were going to face adversity coming into the game," Ruehling said. "That was the first thing Coach (Lee) told us.</span>
<span>"I think some of us slept on the idea a little bit, but definitely in the second half we came together as a group of players and we had no doubt in our hearts and minds."</span>
<span>The 6-foot-5 Berner had five catches for 103 yards and two touchdowns, turning a pass from Ruehling early in the fourth quarter into a 50-yard touchdown that stretched Chester's lead to 42-28 after the two-point conversion.</span>
<span>Berner also led the Yellow Jackets defensively with 11 tackles.</span>
<span>"People say we're a second-half team," Lee said. "That is often used as an insult, but to me, the reason why we're a second-half team is because we work our butt off in the summer and we work our butt off in practice so we're in better shape than most of the people we play.</span>
<span>"It allows us to still be fast in the third and fourth quarter."</span>
<span>Up next for Chester is a road trip to Carmi-White County (2-1). The Bulldogs knocked off previously undefeated Johnston City on the road on Friday.</span>
<span>Kickoff at Carmi next week is set for 7 p.m.</span>
<span>"There are some really great coaches in the (Black) Diamond (Conference) and Kurt Simon is one of them," Lee said of Carmi's coach. "They're going to be physical, they're going to come to play."</span>
Last time against Carmi-WC:
<span>Joel Clendenin ran for 190 yards on 22 carries, and Chester scored 19 points in the fourth quarter to take a 19-14 win over the Bulldogs at W.O. Smith Field.</span>
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