For Darren Sunkett and his staff at East St. Louis, the first two weeks of the 2018 season will go a long way towards the Flyers making another run at the IHSA state championship.
The Flyers’ defensive unit has run into two of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the Midwest in Detroit King’s Dequan Finn and Trinity Catholic’s Isaiah Williams.
It will not get any easier this week for the Flyers as they go on the road to open Southwestern Conference play against the rival Edwardsville Tigers. For the third consecutive week, East Side will be tested by another prime-time dual-threat quarterback as Kendall Abdur-Rahman leads the Tigers. Rahman made his mark last week in a big showdown against CBC when he rushed for 238 yards on 19 carries and four touchdowns.
The Flyers are coming off on of their most exciting victories in recent years when they defeated Trinity in a triple-overtime thriller at the Gateway Scholars Classic. However, there is no time to celebrate as the team prepares for Rahman and the Tigers in this upcoming conference showdown.
“It was a great win for our team and community last Saturday night,” Sunkett said. “But we have to get ready for conference play and Edwardsville tomorrow night. We as a staff knew going in how good the teams were and the quarterbacks were on their rosters. There is no better way to prepare for Rahman than the two quarterbacks that we’ve faced the past two weeks.”
Both Edwardsville and East St. Louis head into Friday’s game with 1-1 records. Edwardsville shellacked McCluer North 63-0 in its opener before losing to CBC 58-45. East St. Louis dropped its opener to Detroit King in the Zenith Classic before rebounded to edge Trinity last Saturday.
Junior running back DeMonte Witherspoon rushed for 115 yards on 20 carries and scored three touchdowns. Sophomore quarterback Tyler Macon rushed for 113 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown. Senior Lawaun Powell, Jr. made some big hits at safety and big catches at wide receiver while Demond Taylor anchored a strong Flyers’ defense.
It promises to be another major dogfight for the Flyers as they face Edwardsville in the Tigers’ back yard on Friday night.
And Coach Sunkett and his staff would not want it any other way.
Scott’s Notes
Let’s be clear about something. There were plenty of people, myself included, who did a whole lot of trash talking prior to last weekend’s game against Trinity. At the end of the day, the kids, coaches and fans on both sides have nothing but respect for each other. And it showed after the game ended after midnight early Sunday morning.
There was a lot of love and respect for each other after a hard-fought game. It was an atmosphere that more than 13,000 watched at Clyde C. Jordan Stadium last Saturday night. It was everything that high school sports should be about.
