Undefeated East St. Louis, Columbia lead 15 area teams into IHSA football playoffs
The top-ranked Class 5A football team in the state all season, the East St. Louis Flyers are moving up for the 2019 IHSA playoffs.
Fresh off a 65-21 win at Naperville Central on Friday, the eight-time state champion Flyers will begin their quest for a sixth Class 6A state championship when they host Chicago Morgan Park in a first round game at Clyde Jordan Stadium.
One of two top seeds in the Class 6A bracket, East St. Louis will take a 9-0 record against the Chicago Public League Mustangs (5-4), who are seeded 16th. Making their 39th playoff appearance, the Flyers are one of 15 metro-east football teams who earned playoff bids Saturday.
First round playoff games will be held Friday and Saturday. The IHSA will announce dates and times Monday.
East St. Louis has enjoyed ample success in the Class 6A playoffs. Five of the six state championships won under legendary coach Bob Shannon were as a Class 6A school.
East St. Louis won the Class 5A state crown under Shannon in 1979 and the Class 7A state championships in both 2008 and 2016 under current coach Darren Sunkett.
The Flyers are the only local team earning a No. 1 seed. The other metro-east area undefeated team, the Columbia Eagles, are seeded second in their half of the Class 4A bracket and will host 15th seeded Roxana (5-4).
The Eagles (9-0) put the finishing touches on their perfect regular season with a 41-7 win over Jerseyville on Friday. Ranked anywhere from No. 6 to No. 8 in the Class 4A state poll for much of the season, Columbia coach Scott Horner was not surprised or disappointed his team did not receive a top-seed despite its undefeated record.
“We’re not concerned with the seeds. In the playoffs, you’ve got 32 good football teams in each class. We’ve been the No. 1 seed and undefeated before and lost in the early rounds. What matters is being ready to play every time you step on the field,” Horner said. “We like our bracket and we like where we are heading into the playoffs.
“But we’re playing a hot Roxana team which is on a five-game winning streak. They’re obviously playing very well right now too.”
Columbia is one of four Cahokia Conference teams earning playoff spots. Both Red Bud (5-4) in Class 2A and Central (5-4) in Class 4A earned playoff bids with clutch wins Friday. Salem (7-2) is competing in Class 4A.
Like the Cahokia Conference, the Mississippi Valley Conference will also be represented by four schools. One intriguing first round game will have 10th seeded Highland (6-3) traveling to take on No. 7 seed Cahokia (7-2) in a Class 5A game.
Both Highland and Cahokia reached the Class 5A quarterfinals a year ago and both are back in the postseason despite graduating several key players. Mascoutah (6-3), which clinched a second straight playoff spot by beating Carterville on Friday, is also in Class 5A, while Civic Memorial (4A) and Triad (5A) are the other MVC teams in the playoffs.
Edwardsville (7-2) will host St. Charles East in a Class 8A game while Mater Dei (8-1) and Marquette (5-4) are competing in Class 3A. Nashville (8-1) could make a lengthy run in Class 2A.
This story was originally published October 27, 2019 at 12:46 AM.
