In battle that may ultimately decide the SIRR Mississippi Division title, Du Quoin held off a tough Chester squad 35-20 Friday night at W.O. Smith field.“Chester is a good ball club,” said Du Quoin coach Al Martin.

“Neither team made many mistakes, but we did enough down the stretch to pull out the win.”

“This game had a nice playoff atmosphere,” said Chester coach Bryan Lee. “There was a huge crowd to watch two very good football teams; we just didn’t get the result we wanted. We won’t hang our heads and hibernate after this loss. We will keep moving this isn’t the end of the world. At 4-1, we are still in good shape to make another playoff run.”

Chester got off to a good start in the ball game.  After kicking off to the Indians to start the game, the Yellow Jacket defense allowed Du Quoin to pick up just one first down before forcing them to punt.

Chester’s first drive of the game was a good one to take the early lead. After a 12 yard and a three yard run by Tim Sullins, sophomore Clint Cole was able to break a couple tackles and then outrun the Du Quoin defense for a 66-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion failed and with 7:02 to play in the first quarter, Chester led 6-0.

Du Quoin answered back with their next possession of the game. The Tribe put together a 64-yard seven-play drive which was capped off by a 14-yard touchdown run by Smith. Du Quoin added the extra point and with 4:20 left in the opening quarter, Du Quoin led 7-6.

 

 

 

The Jacket offense only managed to gain one yard on their next drive and were forced to punt after just three plays.

The Indians added to their lead as they put together a 62-yard six-play drive that resulted in an eight yard touchdown pass from Matt Gossett to David Rose. The Indians added the extra point and with 4.2 seconds left in the first quarter, Du Quoin’s advantage was 14-6.

The Yellow Jackets began their next possession in the shadows of their own end zone, the three yard line. Chester was able to move the ball 40 yards while picking up four first downs before the drive stalled at their own 42 yard line.

The Chester defense only gave up three yards on Du Quoin’s next drive and a huge hit by John Baughman forced the Indians to punt after just three plays.

However, the Jacket offense couldn’t get things going on their next possession and were forced to punt without picking up a first down.

The Chester defense couldn’t keep Du Quoin out of the end zone on their next drive as the Indians marched down the field 63 yards on just four plays for a touchdown. The scoring play was a 29-yard pass from Gossett to Clarry. Du Quoin added the extra point and with 1:08 to play in the second quarter, the Indians were up 21-6.

Just when it looked as if Du Quoin was going to pull away for the win, Chester responded quickly. On the next play from scrimmage, Chester quarterback Zach Lochhead tossed a short pass to Cole on the flat and the sophomore raced down the sideline for a 54-yard touchdown play. Lochhead then connected with Baughman in the corner of the end zone for the two-point conversion to cut Du Quoin’s advantage to 21-14 at the intermission.

“We faced some adversity in the first half and this team responded well against a very good team,” said Lee. “We didn’t fold up after we got down early. I fell this is a program that is on the rise and we just went back to what we do best, playing hard-nosed football.”

The second half got underway as Chester put together one of their better drives of the game. The Jackets moved the ball 72 yards on eight plays that resulted in three first downs before Cole broke loose for a 29-yard run giving Chester a first-and-goal from the Du Quoin one yard line. Sullins found pay-dirt on the very next play as he pounded the ball up the middle for the one-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion was stopped short and with 7:47 to play in the third quarter, Chester trailed just 21-20.

Jacob Rock came up with the big defensive play for Chester on Du Quoin’s next possession as his quarterback sack caused the Indians to lose 14 yards and eventually forced them to punt.

Chester took over starting their next drive from their own 42 yard line. The Jackets were able to pick up 15 yards, but the drive stalled at the Du Quoin 43 yard line forcing Chester to punt the ball.

Du Quoin racked up 37 yards on nine plays before Baughman broke up a Du Quoin pass on third down which forced the Indians to punt.

The Yellow Jackets began their next drive from their own 19 yard line, but two plays later the team made one of their few mistakes of the game. Lochhead’s pass was tipped and intercepted by the Du Quoin defense as the Tribe took over possession from the Chester 15 yard line.

“It was just an unlucky play for us,” said Lee. “It was his first interception of the year and he definitely doesn’t need to hang his head about it.”

“That was a huge play for us,” said Martin. “Sometimes it just takes hustle to make big plays and that is what happened on that interception.”

Two plays later the Indians were back in the end zone as Gayton finished off the drive with a one-yard plunge. Du Quoin added the extra point and with 6:56 left in the game Chester trailed 28-20.

The Jacket moved the ball into Du Quoin territory on their next drive, but Lochhead was sacked on fourth down with four yards to go giving the ball back to Du Quoin on their own 40 yard line.

 

The Indians made good on the short field as they put together a seven-play scoring drive that was capped off by a one-yard dive by Gossett. Du Quoin added the extra point and with 1:06 to play, the Tribe was up 35-20.

On Chester’s last drive of the game, they moved the ball to the Du Quoin 13 yard line, but Lochhead’s pass to the end zone was picked off to end the game.

Chester dropped to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play with the loss. Du Quoin improved to 4-1 on the season and 2-0 in the conference following the victory.

“There is never a good time to lose,” said Lee. “This game showed some of our weaknesses and gives us some things to work on.”

The Chester rushing attack gained 217 yards on 37 attempts, while the Du Quoin ground game finished with 159 yards on 36 carries.

“Chester hurt us a lot with their running game,” said Martin. “We wanted to stop their ability to get outside, but they have a strong fullback that can hurt you up the middle and they have some speed that can burn you on the edge. They have a nice scheme on offense.”

Du Quoin finished with 153 passing yards compared to 76 for Chester.

Cole finished with 120 yards on seven carries to pace the Chester attack while Sullins added 65 yards on 18 attempts and Baughman added 37 yards on seven rushes.

Lochhead completed 4-of-12 passes for 76 yards with two interceptions.

The Chester defense was led by Dan Roth (nine solo tackles and one assist), Rock (five solo tackles with a sack), and Baughman (four solo tackles and one assist).

Chester travels to take on Sparta (0-5) Friday night.