Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009

East St. Louis Flyers face familiar hurdles in playoff game

Wheaton Warrenville South ended Flyers' postseason run in 2007

East St. Louis football coach Darren Sunkett doesn't like to dwell on the past.

But you get the feeling that a 26-0 loss in the Class 7A state semifinals to Wheaton Warrenville South two years ago still bothers the normally unflappable Sunkett.

"The final score doesn't tell the story," Sunkett said. "If memory serves me right, we outgained them and our defense did a great job of shutting them down in the first half. It was only 5-0 with 10 minutes left in the game.

"The difference was that we turned the ball over five or six times and a couple of those were when we were in the red zone ready to score. That was the difference. You can't make mistakes against quality teams and Wheaton (Warrenville South) is an excellent program."

The defending Class 7A state champion Flyers (10-2) will have their chance at redemption today when they return to the scene of their last playoff loss -- Red Grange Stadium in Wheaton -- to play the Tigers (11-1) in a 1 p.m. semifinal.

At stake is a berth in the Class 7A state title game, Nov. 28 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. The winner will take on either (Glen Ellyn) Glenbard West (12-0) or Lake Zurich (9-3).

The 2006 Class 8A state champions, WWS lost the '07 Class 7A state title game 7-3 to Lake Zurich after beating the Flyers, but coach Ron Muhitch remembered the Flyers as being athletic, big and fast.

"Looking at the films that hasn't changed, either," Muhitch said. "When we beat them two years ago, they were a very young football team with great talent. They've lost the two Division I wide receivers (Terry Hawthorne and Kraig Appleton), but they've still got (Courtney) Molton and their quarterback (Detchauz) Wray is also a big-play guy with a cannon for an arm.

"The key, as I see it, is we can't give up the big play. We've got to try and make them move the ball 70-80 yards to score and that hasn't happened much against our defense this season."

The Tigers, whose only loss came against undefeated Class 8A power (Park Ridge) Maine South, advanced to the semifinals with a 23-14 win over (Chicago) St. Rita last week as junior quarterback Reilly O'Toole threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns.

The 6-foot, 3-inch 195-pound O'Toole, considered one of the top junior quarterbacks in the Midwest, has completed 121 of 194 passes for 1,814 yards and 23 touchdowns. O'Toole threw his first interception of the season in the win over St. Rita.

'The kid is just special. He's a great athlete and tremendous leader," Muhitch said. "He has a great vision and great knowledge of the game. He has the ability to get the ball where it needs to go."

Senior Greg McAndrew (6-1, 180) is O'Toole's favorite target, with 28 catches for 526 yards and six touchdowns. The Tigers have seven players with 12 or more receptions and 10 players have caught touchdown passes.

"He (O'Toole) does a great job of spreading the wealth," Sunkett said. "He has seven or eight guys he can go to and as a defense, that's hard to defend.

"We're going to try and mix things up on him. Give him some different looks and see if we can't put some pressure on him."

The running game is led by Matt Rogers. A 5-10, 175-pound junior, Rogers has rushed for 778 yards and 16 touchdowns.

"I was looking at our stats the other day and saw that we have thrown for 2,000 yards and rushed for about 1,900. That's a pretty balanced attack," Muhitch said. "We aren't big and by no means are we anywhere near East St. Louis' size. But we're fast and quick and the kids go to the football very well."

Linebackers Tommy LaBelle (82 tackles, 58 solo) and Mike Heaton (77 tackles, 59 solo) are the Tigers top defensive players.

East St. Louis is coming off a 27-14 win over O'Fallon last week as Wray threw for 193 yards and two touchdowns, while Molton scored three times to lead the way.

Wray, who has thrown for 1,900 yards and 19 touchdowns, may be the key for the Flyers against the Tigers, who likely will center their attention on slowing Molton.

Molton, who has rushed for 2,073 yards and 29 touchdowns this season, needs 175 yards to surpass Chris Moore as the Flyers all-time leader in career rushing yards.

Sunkett doesn't plan on doing anything different against the Tigers.

"Courtney (Molton) has carried the load for us all year and so you can bet he's going to get his touches this week, whether it be running the football or on passes coming out of the backfield," Sunkett said. "But Wray is going to be a key as well.

"Another thing is that our wide receivers have to be consistent in catching the football this week. They have to be able to get open, make catches and then make things happen after they catch the football."

The semifinal appearance is the third straight for the Flyers.

"We're ready to go," Sunkett said. "The key for us is to not make turnovers and not to let them control the clock with long drives down the field.

"It's great to be in the semifinals, but we're not satisfied with just getting to this point. All season long and even before the season began, the goal was to get back into the state title game with a chance to defend our title. This is the last step, and like I said, we're ready."