Perez torches former teammates in East St. Louis victory

East St. Louis quarterback Christian Perez shredded his former O’Fallon teammates with five touchdown passes to lead the Flyers to a 54-7 Southwestern Conference win.

The Flyers improved to 7-1 on the season and, coupled with Belleville West’s loss to Edwardsville Friday, clinched the Southwestern Conference championship outright.

Perez connected with Lawaun Powell Jr. with touchdown strikes of 30, 14 and 9 yards, spotting the Flyers a 18-7 halftime lead. He also hit Eric Rogers II and Charlando Robinson on scoring strikes.

Perez was the starting quarterback for O’Fallon the previous two seasons. He transferred to East Side for his senior year shortly before making a verbal commitment to play at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

Cam Rodgers and Jaylen Nabers each scored rushing touchdowns for East St. Louis. Perez Hall Jr. scored on a 39-yard punt return.

O’Fallon scored in the second quarter on a seven yard pass from Christan Curtis to Ronald Anthony.

The Panthers will close on their season at Granite City next Friday. East St. Louis will play host to Alton with the 5-3 Redbirds trying to clinch a playoff berth.

This story was originally published October 13, 2017 at 11:12 PM with the headline "Perez torches former teammates in East St. Louis victory."