Chester rallies past Johnston City
EDITOR'S NOTE: See more photos from the game in our "photos" section online.
<span>Chester's win over Johnston City on Friday could be described in a multitude of ways.</span>
<span>"Pretty" isn't one of them.</span>
<span>Chris Lang ran for 152 yards and a touchdown, and the Yellow Jackets overcame four turnovers for a 34-21 win over the Indians.</span>
<span>"We have a lot to work on on the offensive side of the ball," Chester coach Jeremy Blechle said. "I don't mean that bad whatsoever. Both sides were fine when they need to shine, but turnovers on both sides - JC and Chester - caused a lot of issues."</span>
<span>Chester sophomore quarterback Curt Meyer threw the first two interceptions of his varsity career, including a 55-yard pick-six to Nicolai Gualdoni that gave Johnston City a 14-7 lead with 3:51 left in the first quarter.</span>
<span>Meyer settled in after that and finished 4-for-11 for 108 yards, including a 77-yard touchdown to Luke Hartman that accounted for Chester's first score of the night.</span>
<span>"We have a sophomore quarterback," Blechle said. "He's going to have a lot of growing pains. He played a handful of games at freshman last year.</span>
<span>"Freshman level to this level to a team like JC, flying around, only giving up one touchdown for the first four games - no matter who your opponent is - is pretty good."</span>
<span>Johnston City held a 21-7 lead at halftime, but the deficit may have been worse for Chester if the Yellow Jackets hadn't recovered a pair of Johnston City fumbles inside the Chester 5.</span>
<span>The significance of those plays was not lost on Indians coach Dan Mings.</span>
<span>"It seems like we gave the football game away (Friday) is what it seems like," he said. "We had it in the red zone and turned it over a couple times and we should have been up 35-zero at half.</span>
<span>"We got a holding call that wasn't called on the first touchdown; not really happy with how the game really played out."</span>
<span>Chester recovered a total of four Johnston City fumbles and Garret Hoffman also picked up an interception for the Yellow Jackets off a tipped pass from Indians quarterback Alec Blades.</span>
<span>"I think it was a game we should have won in the first half," Mings said. "We should have put up 35 points in the first half and we didn't and that's our bad.</span>
<span>"We got beat (Friday), but I'm not sure we got beat by a better football team."</span>
<span>Mings said he was upset because he felt his team did what it was supposed to do to win the contest.</span>
<span>"We got a pick-six, we got another pick run all the way down that we turn the ball over," he said. "Maybe a no call or something like that happens and it turns the game a little bit.</span><span><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span>"The second half belonged to them, there was no doubts about that, but (the game) should have been over before then."</span>
<span>Chester was able to right the ship in the second half, getting touchdowns from Lang and Blake Eggemeyer. Christian Gray's extra point try missed after Eggemeyer's touchdown, leaving Johnston City clinging to a 21-20 lead with 1:40 left in the third quarter.</span>
<span>After Chester recovered an Indians fumble on the JC 24, Jordan Berner found the end zone from 11 yards out to give the Yellow Jackets the lead with 11 minutes remaining. Eggemeyer tacked on the insurance touchdown with five minutes left.</span>
<span>"The second half, to answer your question, we performed like we know how to," Blechle said.</span>
<span>Up next for Chester is Carmi-White County (1-4, 1-3 Black Diamond Conference), which lost to Fairfield, 48-17, on Friday thanks to 282 rushing yards and five touchdowns from Fairfield running back Colton Land.</span>
<span>Kickoff against the Bulldogs at W.O. Smith Field is set for next Friday at 7 p.m. It is also Homecoming week for the Yellow Jackets, with the parade to start at 4 p.m.</span>
<span> </span>