Chester stomps Sullivan West

On what felt like a winter’s night last Friday, Chester battled the Sullivan West Bulldogs. The field was wet and the air was cold, but the Hambletonians surely heated things up. During the first quarter, Sullivan West was able to get past the Hambletonians and put 6 points on their board. However, this score would not last very long. With 9 minutes and 53 seconds in the second quarter, the Michael Schmidlein Show ran an 11-yard touchdown to make the score an even 6:6 tie. Even though Chester has lost many valuable players due to injuries, such as Erick DeGall, Justin Tetz, Mathew Ascolese, and David Malec, Chester remained strong. Joe Salthouse, aka “Salty,” spiced a smooth 14-yard touchdown pass to Darren the Mann. The scoreboard read 12:12, but Chester did not feel comfortable leaving the first half with a tied score, so the Schmidlein show took matters into his own hands. The ball was snapped with 1 second remaining in the half, and once the ball was in Schmidlein’s hands, he made the rest look like a piece of cake. He spun off of many Sullivan West players, faked right, and then ran left pass many of the Bulldogs defensive players. There was no time left when Schmidlein ran in his second touchdown and fans flew up out of their seats excitedly as Schmidlein put his team ahead to leave the first half. Afterward, Schmidlein ran in the two-point conversion, the score was Chester 20 and Sullivan West 12. What a fantastic way to finish off the first half. Chester was fired up for the third quarter, and they were ready to take charge once again over the Bulldogs. Quarterback Joe Salty connected with Darren the Mann for a ten-yard touchdown, and after Salty ran in for the extra two points the scoreboard read 28:12. Both teams were fighting hard, withstanding the poor weather conditions and slippery field. However, it was all coming down to the fourth and final quarter. Surprisingly (not), Schmidlein scored yet another touchdown for his team and once again showed how valuable a player he is for his team. With 8 minutes left in the game, Schmidlein took over the score to make it 34:18. As time drifted off the board, Chester was the winner. Michael Schmidlein, as always, played his hardest with a fantastic game, running 166 yards. Joe Salthouse stepped up with 116 passing yards, and Darren Mann had a total of 87 receiving yards. If it wasn’t for Chester’s tight “D,” the victory over the Bulldogs would not have been possible. Darren Mann overpowered Sullivan West’s offense with 7 tackles and 1 touchdown interception. Mann’s impressive tactics have drawn the attention of many teams. Senior two-way tackle Mike Slicker walked off the field with 6 stellar tackles. Junior Mike Benison has played consistently all season and racked up another 5.5 tackles for the mighty Hambletonian defense. Corner Alex Leight did a solid job of filling in for injured Eric DeGall. Leight was able to block a well-needed punt on his first Varsity start for Chester. Joe Munno rushed to pick up the blocked punt and ran off with 3 yards. The Hambletonians are off the visit the Webutuck Warrior on Saturday, Oct. 7, at 1:30 p.m. in Amenia. Chester is 5-0. This will be the first league for the two teams.