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Missed opportunities haunt Yellow Jackets against North Mac

Posted October 17, 2015 11:00 pm

By Pete Spitler Staff Writer

EDITOR'S NOTE: To see more photos of the game, check out our photo gallery online.

This may be the game that will keep Chester coach Jeremy Blechle awake for a few nights, at least until next week's contest against Eldorado.

The Yellow Jackets, ranked fourth in Class 2A by The Associated Press, took a 13-point lead before the North Mac offense had a chance to run a play. But missed opportunities to extend the advantage came back to haunt Chester in a 30-21 loss to the Panthers at W.O. Smith Field on Saturday.

Facing the No. 7 team in Class 3A, Chester took a 21-7 lead in the second quarter and was on the verge of adding to it when Wyatt Roth returned a deflected Brennan White pass 33 yards to the NM 10.

But Chester's Demontae Martin was ruled out of bounds inches short on fourth-and-goal from the 5, despite video replays that appeared to show the ball breaking the plane of the goal line on Martin's dive at the left pylon.

"That was huge," Blechle said. "In a game when you're playing a team that's up a class when they're ranked in the state and they have athletes all over the place and they're two times your size, you cannot leave points on the board."

Chester had another chance a short time later when Jordan Berner recovered a bobbled North Mac handoff, giving the Yellow Jackets the ball on the Panthers' 19.

This time, the drive ended when a last-ditch pass from Berner was picked off as the first half ended.

"We knew that was going to be the achilles heel, going into halftime leaving those points on the board," Blechle said. "It hurt bad, but the boys fought hard and did a good job."

On the other sideline, North Mac coach Shane Owsley gave his opinion of his team's defensive stands.

"We were in a situation last year where we were 3-6 and a lot of games (when) we got behind, we gave up," Owsley said. "We've been punched in the mouth before and we just needed to prove we could get up off the canvas and this time, we actually did."

After stopping North Mac on fourth-and-4 from the CHS 9 to start the third quarter, the Yellow Jackets went three-and-out and were forced to punt the ball back to the Panthers.

This time, North Mac (8-0) needed only five plays to score, finding the end zone on a 1-yard run by Brennan White. White finished with a game-high 147 yards on 14 carries for the Panthers, while Asa Donaldson added 132 yards on 14 carries.

As a team, North Mac compiled 385 rushing yards on 48 carries, an average of 8.02 yards per carry.

"We have a very, very strong backfield," Owsley said. "We try to mix it up so you can't key on one person and, of course, if you talk to those guys, it's because of our offensive line.

"Chester moved the guys around in the box a little bit, we got a four-man front, we got a 50 front, luckily we took care of our blocks."

The Yellow Jackets continued to sputter offensively to start the second half while North Mac chipped away at the deficit. A 43-yard run by Donaldson tied the score with 3:57 remaining in the third quarter.

Chester got to the North Mac 37 on its next possession, but a pop pass to Berner went incomplete and the Yellow Jackets later came up short on fourth-and-6 from the 33.

A 30-yard field goal by White with 8:25 left in the game gave the Panthers their first lead of the contest and White added the insurance touchdown with 3:33 remaining.

Up next for Chester is a road battle with undefeated Eldorado next Friday for the BDC championship. A victory would also likely give the Yellow Jackets a home game to start the IHSA playoffs.

Kickoff next Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m.

"The beauty of it is a short turnaround, so you can't dwell on the negatives that long because Monday, you're back to work," Blechle said. "You've got to refocus the team and know there's still a lot to be done here."

Offensively for Chester, fullback Blake Eggemeyer finished with 100 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown, while Chris Lang added 60 yards on 11 carries with a score.

Lang also hauled in a 12-yard pass from quarterback Curt Meyer that opened the game's scoring.

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