The East St. Louis Flyers continued a dominant march through the Illinois Class 6A state playoffs with a 42-21 road victory at LeMont in the state quarterfinals last Saturday.
Head coach William Franklin has done a tremendous job of building the Wolverines program back up.
LeMont entered with an 11-0 record. It mattered little as the Flyers were stellar on both sides of the football to take the victory and improve to 10-2 on the season.
Sophomore quarterback Robert “Pops” Battle put on a show as he completed 15 of his 24 passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns. Five-star wide receiver Luther Burden III had eight receptions for 187 yards and three touchdowns. Freshman running back TyRan Martin rushed for 139 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown. The Flyers’ defense was led by Leontre Bradford, who had 15 solo tackles, and Dominic Dixon, who had two of the Flyers’ five quarterback sacks.
East St. Louis will face Crete-Monee in the state semifinals. The time and date have yet to be determined as of press time.
St. Mary’s rolls on
The St. Mary’s Dragons have some unfinished business in the Missouri high school playoffs. The Dragons defeated St. Genevieve Valle last season to win a district championship, but their season ended when the team had to forfeit their next game due to COVID-19.
St. Mary’s took the first step toward a championship run by defeating the same Valle team 55-7 last Friday to win the Class 3, District 2 championship. The Dragons’ offensive firepower was on full display, overwhelming a previously undefeated Valle team with one big play after another.
Quarterback Caron Spann completed all 12 of his passing attempts for 366 yards and three touchdowns. Star wide receiver Kevin Coleman had four receptions for 167 yards and two touchdowns, while Chase Hendricks had five receptions for 181 yards and four touchdowns.
St. Mary’s is currently ranked No. 1 in the Class 3 state rankings. The Dragons will visit Park Hills Central on Friday night in the state quarterfinals.
Some District Championship standouts
-Junior Steve Hall of MICDS scored four touchdowns in the Rams’ 42-6 victory over Parkway North.
-Senior Cam Epps of Chaminade rushed for 375 yards on 25 carries in the Red Devils’ 55-20 victory over Fort Zumwalt North.
-Senior Arlen Harris Jr. of Lutheran-St. Charles scored four rushing touchdowns in the Cougars’ 42-0 victory over Duchesne.
-Freshman Dierre Hill of Vashon scored four touchdowns on runs of 81, 73, 4, and 55 in the Wolverines 28-22 victory over Union.
*Congrats Vashon, Lift for Life and Cardinal Ritter
Shout-outs are in order for Vashon, Lift for Life and Cardinal Ritter for winning district championships last Friday night. Vashon defeated Union 28-22 to win the Class 4, District 2 title. Head coach William Franklin has done a tremendous job of building the Wolverines program back up.
Lift for Life went on the road to defeat New Madrid Central 58-34 to win the Class 2, District 1 championship. The score was tied 34-34 in the fourth quarter before the Hawks closed the game with 24 unanswered points.
Cardinal Ritter defeated host Lutheran North 20-18 to win the Class 3, District 3 championship.
