The Waterloo community is excited to cheer on its local high school football squad as it hosts a playoff game this weekend.

In a rare Saturday afternoon high school football contest, one-loss Waterloo traveled south down Route 3 to undefeated Chester and handed the Yellowjackets their first loss.

With the 35-28 victory, the Bulldogs achieved their first eight-win season since 1995. The IHSA playoff pairings were announced Saturday night and Waterloo’s opening round Class 4A opponent will be Taylorville (5-4). 

Gametime is 1 p.m. Saturday at Waterloo High School.

Saturday’s game was a showcase for Waterloo junior running back Derez Sayles. He rushed for 242 yards on the day – averaging 17 yards per carry – with touchdowns of 29, 64, 41 and 70 yards. 

Sayles now has 1,133 yards rushing and 20 scores on the season. Last season, he ran for 903 yards. 

Chester led 14-0 after the first quarter before Sayles ran for the first of his four TDs. 

Another score for the Bulldogs came on a 27-yard pass from quarterback Conrad Lindhorst to wide receiver Chris Pete late in the first half.

Leading the way for Waterloo’s defense on this day were Wyatt Luhr, Justin Manning and Alex Stell, as all recorded sacks.

Key members of Waterloo’s offense line that have helped pave the way for a dangerous rushing attack this season include Steven Lopez-Tercero, Henry Bivins, Collin Groves and Carter Cozean.

Lindhorst has been solid at quarterback this fall, throwing for 617 yards and six TDs with only one interception. 

Up next are the Taylorville Tornadoes, who lost 35-27 at home to Columbia on Sept. 13 the week after Waterloo went into Columbia and won 31-14.

Key players for Taylorville who performed well in that September contest against Columbia were 6-foot-3 senior quarterback Baron Odam and wide receivers Clark Durbin and Malique Pearse. 

The winner of Saturday’s playoff game will face the winner of Columbia vs. Cahokia in the second round of the IHSA Class 4A football playoffs next weekend.