Friday evening, August 28, 2026, Coach Jeff Staton took to the field as he led the Chillicothe Hornets to their first victory of the 2026 season, beating the Palmyra Panthers 18-13 at Bob Fairchild Field in Jerry Litton Memorial Stadium.
The game started with Palmyra winning the coin toss and choosing to put their offense on the field to test the Chillicothe Hornet defense. With sophomore quarterback Kason Auspurg leading the Panther offense, Palmyra smartly marched down the field on their opening drive only to get stalled inside the Chillicothe 30 yard line and turn the ball over on downs. Chillicothe’s first offensive series was very similar to Palmyra’s. The Hornets marched down the field only to get stopped inside the 20 yard line and have to turn the ball over on downs. That is how the rest of the first quarter went for both teams offensive success, yet no points scored. The end of the first quarter – CHS 0 PHS 0.
Second quarter opened much differently with Palmyra being forced to punt from their own end zone. Senior Case Stretch received the punt at the Palmyra 40 and was able to return the ball to the Panther 15 yard line. The next play, Senior Henry Hurtgen ran off the left side for Chillicothe’s first score of the game – CHS 6 PHS 0 as the point after was no good. Palmyra went on offense and was able to move the ball to inside the Chillicothe 25 yard line before a botched snap resulted in a fumble and was finally picked up by Safety Dallyn Bailey and returned for a 75 yard touchdown. The Chillicothe Defense would quickly answer the call again when Dallyn Bailey intercepted Auspurg’s pass at the Panther 30 yard line. Chillicothe would not be able to do anything with that possession. CHS 12 PHS 0.
The Panthers would answer on the next possession with a drive ending in a 19 yard touchdown from Sophomore Kason Auspurg to Senior Pierce White. The end of the half was CHS 12 PHS 6.
Second half opened with CHS getting the ball and using their ground attack to move the ball, but was forced to punt ending their drives. Auspurg and Palmyra changed their attack and put the ball in the hands of the talented Sophomore quarterback. Auspurg was able to move the ball against the Hornet defense by simply being the main offensive attack. Several QB designed runs gave Auspurg a lot of space to find creases and push the Hornet defense back with his own ground game. The 3rd quarter would close with a score of 18-6 after Hornet Sophomore quarterback Burke Beetsma connected with Senior Ezra Leppin on a 29 yard touchdown.
Palmyra was not finished yet, however. Auspurg took the reins and led the offense down the field and was able to find White on a corner route for a 19 yard touchdown reception. This brought the score to CHS 18 PHS 13 after a successful field goal attempt. The remainder of the game was controlled by Chillicothe as Palmyra would get close to big plays, short fields, and possible scoring opportunities. But the Hornet defense was able to find ways to stop the Auspurg attack when it was needed the most.
The Hornet defense sealed the win with a Cooper Robinson interception at the Chillicothe 39 yard line with 1:33 left in the game. Chillicothe went on to control the ball for the remaining 93 seconds to give the Hornets their first win of the 2026 campaign.
The Hornets will be on the road next week against Kirksville as they fight to keep the momentum, new attitude, and early success moving forward. That game starts at 7pm at Kirksville High School and will be broadcast LIVE on 102.5 KCHI.