Johnston City rallies to beat Chester freshmen
<span>CHESTER -- Not even 421 yards of offense was enough to overcome four turnovers, as Chester saw a 20-point halftime lead turn into a 32-27 loss to Johnston City on Thursday at W.O. Smith Field.</span>
<span>Nick Heffernan had 116 yards rushing with two touchdowns, Jack Hathaway added 113 yards and two scores and Wyatt Roth contributed 101 yards as Chester (1-2) compiled 361 yards on 53 carries on the ground.</span>
<span>It was the first time in modern CHS freshman history that three running backs surpassed the 100-yard mark in a single game.</span>
<span>"I saw two completely different teams," said Chester freshman coach Jake Cowan. "I saw a team in the first half that was confident and ready to go, doing what we stressed all week in practice and in the second half it's a completely different team.</span>
<span>"I don't understand what we were doing there."</span>
<span>After taking advantage of two Johnston City fumbles and an interception by Brandon Wright in the first half, Chester saw the tables turned against it when the Indians forced three fumbles and grabbed an interception of their own in the final two quarters.</span>
<span>After Johnny Steed's fourth touchdown of the game gave Johnston City its five-point advantage with 1:51 left, Chester made it to the Indians' 45 on its final offensive possession before quarterback Curt Meyer's pass on fourth-and-10 fell incomplete with 21.2 seconds remaining.</span>
<span>"I probably didn't use the timeouts as well as I could have, I take some fall for that," Cowan said. "But it should have never come to that. We should have never even been in that situation."</span>
<span>For the second week in a row, Chester had a chance to win a game inside enemy territory. The freshman Yellow Jackets have lost their last two contests by a combined seven points.</span>
<span>Meyer finished 3-for-11 passing for 60 yards and the interception for the Yellow Jackets, who held a 27-24 lead after a three-yard run by Steed with 4:55 remaining.</span>
<span>But a fumble by Hathaway on Chester's ensuing possession gave Johnston City the ball back with 3:28 remaining and on its own 26.</span>
<span>Indians quarterback Luca Gualdoni ran 21 yards on the first play from scrimmage and Steed finished the drive off with a 68-yard run to give Johnston City the lead for good.</span>
<span>Defensively, Roth led Chester with eight tackles (four solo) and one tackle for loss. Nick Heffernan had six tackles and Brady Kelkhoff had five assists.</span>
<span>Up next for the freshmen Yellow Jackets is a road game at Christopher-Zeigler-Royalton on Thursday. Kickoff in Christopher is scheduled for 6 p.m.</span>
Last time against C-Z-R:
<span>Jacob Golding had 140 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns as Chester held off a pesky Bearcats squad for a 44-36 win at W.O. Smith Field.</span>
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