The East St. Louis Senior High Flyers are approaching the meat of their football schedule.
They opened the season with a victory over Chicago Simeon, which at that time was ranked in the top five in the Chicagoland area. The following week, it was the “throw my team under the bus” loss to Lombard Montini, the No. 2-ranked team in the state of Illinois Class 6A polls.
The past two weeks have served to “throw my team back on the bus” as the Flyers have outscored the opposition 128-0 in moving to 3-1 on the season. The Flyers defeated Alton 56-0 two weeks ago and followed up with a 69-0 victory over Granite City at Jordan Stadium last weekend.
Now, the season really starts a new for Darren Sunkett’s Flyers. First up on the docket is a road contest against Southwestern Conference foe Belleville West.
The Maroons and the Flyers have one of the most interesting rivalries in the area. The winning team gets to claim possession of the old Union Pacific Bell.
The two teams use to play on Thanksgiving day, just like the long-standing Kirkwood vs. Webster Groves rivalry game. However, politics and other factors put a halt the Southwestern Conference’s Turkey Day Game after the 1977 season.
Former Flyers great Kevin Ramsey, who used to be the defensive coordinator at the University of Georgia and is now working at Clark Atlanta University, caught a two-point conversion in the back of the end zone to seal the victory for the Flyers on that cold Thanksgiving day back in 1977.
This year’s game is very important for the Flyers for a number of reasons. They are playing their best football right now, with the meat of the conference schedule coming up in the next three weeks.
Quarterback Reyondus Estes is playing some of the best football at any position in the area right now. Estes had 325 yards of total offense last Friday night against Granite City. He was nine for 23 passing for 247 yards. In addition, Estes had six carries for another 78 yards rushing.
East Side’s ground game was supposed to be a weak link this season, but it has been the exact opposite. Junior tailback Kerrion “Blinky” Chairs had another strong rushing performance last week with 118 yards on 16 carries. All-American wide receiver Jeff Thomas had a breakout game against Granite City with six receptions for 170 yards.
The defense is also playing great after posting shutouts in consecutive weeks. Leading tackler James “Bonecrusher” Knight had 11 stops against Granite City. And linebacker LaMontre “State Street” Harvey chipped in with three sacks and nine solo tackles last week.
On the other hand, Belleville West has won two in a row with wins over O’Fallon 13-12 and a 43-7 thumping of Collinsville last week. Both wins have come after opening losses to Normal West and Normal Community High.
Quarterback Logan Betz leads the Maroons offense, passing for 522 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Kristopher Davis is Belleville West’s leading rusher with 398 yards and two touchdowns.
After Belleville West, the Flyers have two more tough conference games. The biggest is the showdown with visiting Edwardsville next Friday night. And the following week, there is a battle against the upstart Belleville East Lancers.
Obviously, this is an important stretch for head football for Coach Sunkett, who last season lost the prestigious Bell to Belleville West.
And I’m sure he’s glad Edwardsville’s quarterback Dan Marinko has graduated, since he never beat him while he was at Edwardsville.
This week’s game also brings back memories from the 2000 season when the Flyers lost to Belleville West at Old Township Stadium and Sunkett did not shake hands after the game. That prompted East Side alum and state Senator James Clayborne, who represents the 57th Congressional District that includes both East St. Louis and Belleville, to openly criticize the coach and remind him that we don’t represent Flyer football that way.
According to members of the “street patrol” and around barbershop nation, Sunkett had better bring that Union Pacific Bell home this Saturday and beat Edwardsville. Or else, it might be a whole lot of talking going on by the “street patrol” before the season ends.
