CHESTER, Texas — There's a youth movement going on up in Chester. With nearly half the team graduating, the Yellowjackets will lean heavily on a young roster this fall.
Despite that, second year head coach Justin Hilliard has high expectations.
"We're ready to go this year. Last year we had a good group of seniors that helped the transition for the coaches and the kids with a new system and everything like that and this year we're going to be younger which is going to be one of our challenges. The junior high group is coming off an undefeated season. Lots of leadership, lots of ability. So we're excited about that group."
Hilliard admitted his first year coaching 6-man football was challenging, but he feels more prepared in year two.
"It was a drastic learning curve. You know you come in thinking hey this might not be that bad and you start to see it a lot where you're missing stuff throughout the season, but by the end of the year we were real competitive with state ranked teams and barely missed out on making the playoffs in our first year. So it wasn't too bad for us."
One of the Jackets upperclassmen should create quite the punch. Junior fullback Keighgan Green is listed at 6-2, 245 pounds.
"You know he's a big ole boy. For 6-man that's not usual. So a big boy running the ball, he will run through everybody. We have some freshman guys Jesse Bittick and Jaxon gay, they can run. Rick Carlton was All-Region for us last year as a corner. He had eight interceptions. He was our quarterback, completed about seventy percent of his passes. And we have one returning running back from an injury, Kessler Romo. He should easily be over a thousand yards at the tailback position."
CHESTER YELLOWJACKETS
2021 Record: 3-6, 1-2
District Finish: 3rd
Playoffs: None
State Championships: None
Playoff Appearances: 14 (Last 2015)
2022 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Aug. 26 - at Galveston O'Connell
Sept. 9- vs Mount Carmel
Sept. 16 - at Calvert
Sept. 24 - at Emery
Sept. 30 - vs Apple Springs
Oct. 14 - at Cristo Rey Jesuit
*Oct. 21 - at Burkeville
*Oct. 28 - vs Leverett's Chapel
*Nov. 4 - vs High Island