East St. Louis Flyers head football coach Darren Sunkett was quite pleased with his team’s performance despite the 14-6 loss to perennial Louisiana power Evangel Christian Academy last Saturday night.
More than 7,000 people were in attendance to witness the feature game of the Second Annual Gateway Scholars Football Classic at Clyde C. Jordan Stadium.
“We played an outstanding football team down to the final minute of the game;” Sunkett said. “We had our chances and just didn’t execute in a few crucial situations. We will learn from this experience and get ready for our conference schedule.”
Next up on the schedule for the Flyers is a Friday night matchup with the big bad Edwardsville Tigers, who come to East Boogie to take on the Flyers to open Southwestern Conference play. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in the “House of Pain.”
The Flyers are the top-ranked team in Illinois Class 7A and defending state champions. They are looking to run the table the rest of the way after going 1-1 to open the season.
“We prepare our non-conference schedule to get us ready for a state championship run,” Sunkett said. “Our players understand and enjoy the competition and competitive football atmospheres we play in. That’s what it’s all about here at East St. Louis, playing the best teams we can find to play us during our non-conference schedule.
“Our staff and players excepted the challenge last Saturday night and we came up a little short. Our players have nothing to be ashamed of or hang their heads about. We are a pretty good football team that fought to the end against one of the top programs in the country.”
East St .Louis will get a shot at making Edwardsville 0-3 for the first time since 1994 tomorrow night.
The Tigers lost All American A.J. Epenesa to graduation and it has showed the last two weeks, giving up 782 yards of total offense to Naperville North (472) and CBC (310) in the last two games.
However, Edwardsville will look to quarterback Kendall Abdur-Rahman and running back Dionte Rogers, one of the best one-two combinations in the St. Louis area, to get them in the win column tomorrow night.
East St. Louis will continue to rely on the play of quarterback Christian Perez who was 11 for 23 for 209 yards and a touchdown against a stout Evangel Christian Academy Eagles defense last week.
Flyers running back DeMonta Witherspoon got the start replacing the injured Jerrell Anderson against the Eagles and responded for 74 yards on 18 carries, often giving blows along the way to the Evangel Christian Academy defense.
The Edwardsville vs. East St. Louis game is one of the biggest rivalries in the metropolitan area. However, this year’s game is obviously huge for both programs, coming off loses in the beginning of conference play.
PREDICTION: Flyers head coach Darren Sunkett and his boys dial it up tomorrow night and make a statement doing it, sending the Tigers home 0-3 for the first time since 1994.
East St. Louis 38 – Edwardsville 17.
