Three fun high school football games will happen Labor Day weekend

The “Border War” is back.

Two of the most successful high school football programs in the St. Louis area — East St. Louis and Christian Brothers College — will collide in a battle of the elite in the highlight game of the Gateway Scholars Football Classic on Sept. 3 at Clyde Jordan Stadium in East St. Louis.

The Gateway Scholars Football Classic, which takes the place of the successful City of Champions Classic, will begin when Cahokia plays St. Louis Sumner at 1 p.m. That game will be followed by Althoff playing Jefferson City (Mo.) Helias at 4 p.m.

East St. Louis, featuring the passing combination of quarterback and University of Missouri recruit Reyondous Estes and all-American wide receiver Jeff Thomas will take on CBC in the finale at 7 p.m.

East St. Louis Athletic Director Leonard Manley made the announcement of the three game “Border War” on Sunday during media day at East St. Louis High School. Representatives from Sumner along with all three Illinois schools were on hand to promote the event that Manley hopes will draw a big crowd during Labor Day weekend.

“We’re calling it a Border War because you have three schools from Illinois against three schools from Missouri. But we’re also promoting it as a scholar event because we’re also having a college fair at the high school from 9 a.m.-noon to promote and draw interest in education and academics and we’re also giving them a little entertainment with the football games,” Manley said. “We admire what the City of Champions Classic did and we decided to take a page out of their book and expand on it.

“We’re excited about this event and the schools that are participating are also excited to be competing. That makes even better when schools are excited to come to your stadium and your event and compete. We just hope that people come out to support these kids. These are all good kids who are trying to go something positive in their lives and we’re looking forward to a great day of football.

Tickets are $10 and are good for all three games. People may come and go as they please but need a ticket stub to be readmitted. Manley said there will be other entertainment and plenty of food.

While all three games promise to be exciting, the chance to see Estes and Thomas should be worth the price of admission. East St. Louis, which finished 3-6 after having its final four games wiped out by a teachers strike a year ago, will have a little more incentive when they take on CBC.

“What happened last year is behind us. But I think we’re going to have a little bit of a chip on our shoulders this year,” Estes said. “We’re ready. We’re healthy and we’re out to have a good season.”

Thomas, who has college scholarship offers from nearly all of the nation’s top programs said he’s not close to making any kind of decision. Right now, he’s concerned with helping his team get off to a good start.

“My goal is to help this football program win a state championship this year. I’m healthy and ready to go,” Thomas said. “I haven’t made up my mind about college yet.”

The game with CBC will be the second for East St. Louis. The Flyers open their season Saturday at Providence Catholic.

East St. Louis coach Darren Sunkett knows his team faces a major challenge against one of the top teams in St. Louis in CBC.

“It’s no question a game we are really looking forward to playing. CBC is one of the top programs right now and we’re looking forward to showcasing our talent against theirs. It’s a great opportunity for both programs,” Sunkett said. “This is a great event because the revenue is going to help non-athletes go to college. I know people think the money is going to the schools, but its actually going to help kids who wouldn’t have the chance to go to college, have that opportunity. It’s a great cause.”

Althoff takes on Helias

Althoff, which takes on Collinsville in its season opener on Friday, will take on a Helias team that will have had two games under its belt. Helias fell to Hannibal 19-14 on Friday.

The Crusaders, who must replace several players, including quarterback Jordan Augustine, from a team which reached the state title game a year ago, is looking forward to the challenge of playing one of Missouri’s top high school programs.

“It’s a very good football program. One in which, like ourselves, has a lot of tradition” Althoff coach Ken Turner said. “It means a lot to be able to be invited down to an event like this. We’re really looking forward to it. We’ve got a few days to get ready to play Collinsville then we’ll start preparing for Helias.”

A homecoming for Clay

Cahokia begins a new era when it takes the field for a home game on Friday against Highland as first year coach John Clay makes his debut. One week later, Clay will return to the sidelines at East St. Louis High School, where he was an assistant for many years.

“I don’t know much about Sumner. I’ll have a chance to look at them on film after the first week and get a better idea what we’ll see,” Clay said. “We’re looking forward to playing in this event. This is a great experience for the kids.”

This story was originally published August 21, 2016 at 8:54 PM with the headline "Three fun high school football games will happen Labor Day weekend."