The East St. Louis Flyers put a convincing 48-20 whipping on Minooka in the second round of the IHSA Class 7A playoffs in front of 4,000 plus at stunning Clyde C. Jordan Memorial Stadium on the campus of East St. Louis Sr. High.
Minnoka fans got a glimpse of what many people in Southern Illinois already knew. The 2009 addition of Flyers football is truly a TEAM. After a little trash talking by Minooka head coach Bert Kooi, the Indians got what St. Rita, Bradley Bourbanais, and many others who have come to the East Side for a playoff football game.
The received an escort by East St. Louis’ great police department straight to interstate 64 north out of “The 618” with a firm beatdown, and a message by Coach Darren Sunkett’s boys. We play a little football down SOUTH as some northern schools deem the Flyers; as the East Side whipped Minooka High(near Joliet), thus advancing to a quarterfinals match-up against Southwestern Conference rival O’Fallon.
The Flyers defeated O’Fallon 44-0 in the first meeting between the schools on Sept. 25.
A win by the Flyers will set up a rematch between the winner of tomorrow night’s quarterfinal match-up between two Chicagoland powers, St. Rita and Wheaton Warrenville South.
O’Fallon, led by running back/defensive-back B.J. Hendrix, upset Lincoln-Way East 17-16 to reach the final eight in the tournament by forcing 5 turnovers against a Lincoln-Way offense that averaged 30 points a game going into the play-offs.
East St. Louis is riding a nine-game winning streak, and an eight-game playoff winning streak dating back to last season’s Class 7A State Championship run.
The Flyers will carry a solid 1-2-3-4 punch in the backfield with the emergence of senior Darius Stewart, who made his playoff debut last Saturday, racking up 199 yards and three touchdowns.
In addition, the Flyers didn’t need All-Stater Courtney Mouton who is still recovering from an ankle injury, nor sophomore sensations Duke Robinson and Jeremy Nichols.
Hopefully, the Flyers can rest Moulton again this week against O’Fallon, so he can be fresh for a possible showdown next weekend in the semifinals.
O’Fallon will be ready to play. Their offense does not make mistakes, and defensively, the Panthers have been downright stingy in the 2009 playoffs.
The game will be the most anticipated match-up between the two conference rivals since the Flyers had stars Julius Denzmore, Trevor Dismukes, Jaius Singleton, Kelvin Rogers among others, while the Panthers had the St. Louis Defensive Player of the year in Dan Moore (Wisconsin) my nephew, Duane Bennett( Minnesota), Dwayne Bennett (Mizzou), Troy Wagner(Indiana) and Dwayne Sargent.
Ok, I’m being nice. East Side should have no problem with O’Fallon. I remember the movie Hoosiers and all that, but not this weekend. Flyers 45- O’Fallon 13
P.S.
To my friend who goes by the name of the “PARTY BUS MAN” on my local radio show. “Get the bus warm, and don’t forget the “Uncle Diddly.”
Flyers getting ready to roll for a rematch.
(Listen to Maurice Scott on WESL-1490 on “From the East Side: The Radio Show” every Monday-Thursday from 6-8 p.m.).