In winning the school’s first state championship in 17 years, Darren Sunkett’s East St. Louis Flyers football team proved to many around the state of Illinois (particularly up North) that we have pretty good football players “down south” as the Chicagoans like to call us.
Fly junior qaurterback Detchauz Wray tossed three second-half touchdown passes to lead East Side to a 33-14 whipping against Geneva, a school from the suburbs in Northern Illinois.
Down 7-6 at halftime, All -American wide-receivers Terry “Black Cat” Hawthorne,and Kraig Appleton, tailback Cortney Moulton and the mammoth Flyers offensive line returned the Class 7A Football Championship back to East St. Louis for the first time since 1991.
It has been a total team effort by this staff and team since they left with a 26 – 0 loss to Wheaton Warrenville South in the 2007 Class 7 A Semi-finals. The young men and coaches started working for this championship season not long after that winter afternoon in suburban Chicago.
We have all talked about the season, the adversity, the loss of a teammate in the summer as well as during the season n Vincent Arterbridge lost to a neck injury this summer in a drill. And the unfortunate life-changing injury to Demond Hunt.
But nothing brings our community together like our athletic teams have throughout the years. And this certainly has held true the last couple of years. Our administration and Board of Education have provided this coaching staff with the support it takes to win.
When you have success with the athletic programs, it’s an team effort on all fronts: the camps, the tough schedule, our beautiful facility in Clyde C. Jordan Memorial Stadium, first-class accommodations for the team and coaches when they travel.
And the superintendents of our schools, principals, athletic director, cheerleading coordinator, facility manager, grounds crew, security n everybody involved should give themselves a hand, because it was a team effort.
I was so proud of our community and its organizers for planning the number of busses that we took to Chicago supporting our young men. Also, the community support by the fans reminded me of the old Parson Field days, if you are old enough to get down with me on that. An afternoon with the East St. Louis Flyers was not just a football game, it was an event.
These young men, and the coaches made us so proud of them. Believe me, tears and hugs were being felt throughout the United States from Flyer alumni and former players.
I know I sound like the 2008 Flyers discovered another planet or found a cure for some disease by the way I’m going on about them. But this is a big deal for a community with many, many, problems. These young men and others like them give all of us hope about our future.
Hats off again to everybody for making this an exciting way to kick off the 2008-09 academic/athletic year. And a special hats off to coach Sunkett and his staff for putting in all the long hours of work that require such a feat.
