Last season’s 49-27 loss to Peoria Notre Dame in the IHSA Class 6 quarterfinals still has a bad taste in the mouths of many East St. Louis Flyers’ fans and alumni alike.
The loss tasted like the bologna and mayonnaise sandwiches that former Flyers’ head basketball coach Ray Coleman use to serve the team for pre-game meals. Coach Coleman’s players constantly complained to the assistants, just like East Side fans and alums are starting to complain about the state of the football program at East St. Louis.
The Flyers were 7-5 last season. It was the first five-loss season in East St. Louis in 15 years. Only five times in the illustrious history of East St. Louis football have the Flyers’ lost at least five games in a single season.
Entering his 14th season at East St. Louis Senior High, head coach Darren Sunkett has an overall record of 122-43. I have been a huge fan of coach Sunkett during his tenure. Frankly, some have said I’ve defended him while at East Side in my column in The St. Louis American.
One thing for sure, when things don’t go right during the football season, I get blamed for introducing Sunkett to the administration 14 years ago. Some people stopped speaking to me until he won a championship back in 2008.
Another thing that is certain is that Sunkett can coach football. Hopefully, this will be the season in which he delivers what the “City of Champions” wants so desperately during the fall – that is, another state championship.
This year’s team is loaded once again led by junior quarter-back Reyondus Estes. The 5’11” 180-pound signal caller will lead the Flyers’ high-octane offense. As a sophomore, Estes passed for 1,743 yards and 20 touchdowns and only three interceptions.
Up front, East St. Louis will be young, and rely on senior Tre’Vour Simms (6’5 260) who has made a verbal commitment to Illinois.
Estes may have the best trio of receivers in the state in junior All-American candidate Jeff Thomas (5’10 167 pounds) who had 1,143 yards and 12 touchdowns. Thomas is considered the top-rated wide out in the 2017 class. He has offers from Alabama, Florida State, Florida, Missouri, and just about everyone else in the country.
In addition, senior receiver Karon Randolph (6’4 195), who is a starter on the Flyers’ basketball team, has offers from Florida State and Kansas. Junior wide out Jermaine Grissom may be the best all-around athlete in the school. The 6’2” 190-pound two-sport star is a nightmare of a match-up for opposing teams to deal with on Friday nights.
On defense, the Flyers hope to improve from last season when they gave up 324 points, which is ridiculous for an East St. Louis defense. Only Granite City in the powerful Southwestern Conference gave up more points. That’s certainly not championship status.
East Side will be led on defense by two of the best linebackers in the area in juniors James Knight (6′ 190 pounds) who had 67 tackles as a sophomore. Alongside Knight will be hard hitting linebacker Lamondre “State Street” Harvey (6’2 200). On the defensive line, the Flyers are led by junior Terrez LaGrone (6’4 220) and Antuan Quilling (6’2 220).
East St. Louis will open its season on Saturday night against the No. 4-rated team in the Chicagoland area in Chicago Simeon at 7 p.m. at Gately Stadium. In addition, the Flyers have a tough non-conference game in Week 2 against Class 5-State runner-up Lombard Montini, who beat the Flyers 46-32 last season.
Flyers fans and the alumni have a right to be concerned about the state of the current football program for a number of reasons. The program has the most wins all-time in the state’s football history, and currently in the top 15 teams in victories in the country.
For now, we will keep the focus on the kids, and not the coach and the outsiders. For now …
