This could be a very special year in East St. Louis. Barack Obama might become president of the United States of America. Michelle Obama the first black first lady! Dawn Harper winning the gold medal in Beijing.
And the East St. Louis Flyers have a good chance to play for a state championship in 2008. The bar is raised very high for a team that returns 15 starters from an 11-2 team that reached the Illinois Class 7-A semifinals last year.
Every night the Flyers kick off this year, the bullseye will be on their backs, yet this team just might be the one that gets over the hump.
The Flyers have won 11 games in each of the last two seasons, so winning goes along with the territory when you are the head coach at East Side. And Flyers coach Darren Sunkett is just the kind of coach this team needs right now.
Clearly one of the best high school football coaches in the state, Sunkett understands the climate and the expectations at East St, Louis Senior. “We have fallen a little short the last couple of years. But we have won 22 ball games in that span. We expect to win every time we take the field,” he said.
“That’s what we expect out of our program, and we have to go out and get the job done. Our senior leadership has been great all off-season. Now we just have to go play our style of football. If we do that, we should be OK.”
The Flyers kick off their season at 3 p.m. Sunday against Ohio powerhouse Huber Heights as part of the Kirk Herbstriet/Burger King High School Varsity Football Challenge (on NFL Network).
In week two, they host D.C./Virginia powerhouse St. Johns Prep at Clyde C. Jordan Stadium, before starting the powerful Southwestern Conference schedule. The flyers have won 16 conference games in a row, dating back to a 41-24 loss to Edwardsville in 2005.
Leading the way for the Flyers will be QB Detchaz Wray who passed for 1,982 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2007. The sophomore also has two of the most explosive running backs in the Metro East in Courtney Molton (288 yards, 11 touchdowns) and Vincent Arterbridge (1,152 yards, 15 touchdowns). Arterbridge will be sidelined for a few weeks with a neck injury sustained in summer drills.
The Flyers have two of the top wide-outs in the country in 6’4” Kraig Appleton, and 6’2” Terry Hawthorne. Both are rated among the top 100 high school players according to Rivals.com.
The defense will be anchored by two University of Illinois recruits in Hawthorne and Tommie Hopkins. The only place the Flyers are young will be the interior line, but the Flyers do have players who have some varsity experience from last season.
Despite all the hype about this team, Sunkett knows his team is in for a long season with high expectations.
November could be very special, with Obama running for president and the thought of Michelle Obama in the White House. This could be a great year if we can all do a little celebrating on Thanksgiving weekend with a presidential win – and a state championship in football.
East St. Louis Flyers schedule for 2008
? Huber Heights, Ohio (A) 3:00p.m.
? 9/5- St. Johns Prep (H) 1:30p.m.
? 9/12-O’Fallon (H) 7:00p.m.
? 9/19- Belleville West (A) 7:00p.m.
? 9/26-Alton (H) 7:00p.m.
? 10/3- Collinsville- (A) 7:00p.m.
? 10/16- Granite City – (H) 7:00p.m.
? 10/17- Belleville East- (H) 7:00p.m.
? 10/24- Edwardsville- (H) 7:00p.m.