East St. Louis dusts off early glancing blow, posts decisive road win against O’Fallon

East St. Louis withstood O’Fallon’s initial jab during Saturday’s Southwestern Conference game, responded with a series of haymakers and ultimately coasted to a 60-21 victory.

After the Panthers scored on their first possession to take a 7-0 lead — thanks in part to three pass interference penalties — the Flyers scored 44 unanswered points — including 30 in the second quarter — and had little difficulty in improving to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in league play.

“We were just shooting ourselves in the foot with dumb mistakes (the first drive). Once we cut down on that, after that drive, you saw how good our defense can be,” said East St. Louis coach Darren Sunkett, whose team remained ranked No. 1 in the AP’s latest Class 6A poll. “Our thing is to keep coaching and get better and better each week.”

East St. Louis quarterback Robert Battle enjoyed another big day, completing 21-of-28 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns. Battle, a junior, also rushed for 115 yards on 10 carries, which included 3- and 50-yard touchdown runs. Additionally, sophomore wide receiver Dejerrian Miller grabbed six of Battle’s passes for 87 yards and two scores.

“DJ is going to be a great wideout for us,” Sunkett said. “He put in a lot of work all summer long. We just look for him to get better and better every week and we’re looking for big things from him. DJ gives us the whole package.”

Senior linebacker Antwon Hayden, a University of Illinois commit, was pleased with the team’s showing. East St. Louis now has scored 117 points its last two games.

“We’re just trying to get this run going, go all the way to state, make it and win a state championship,” said Hayden, who caught a touchdown pass Saturday. “We just want to go out and dominate ... we’ve just got to keep playing and playing and keep our momentum up.”

O’Fallon, meanwhile, suffered its first loss of 2022, dropping to 4-1 overall, 1-1 in the SWC. Twice allowing the Flyers a short field in the first half when the game still was in doubt hurt the Panthers. East St. Louis scored on both possessions, extending a 14-7 lead to 28-7.

“You can’t give a team like that a short field and give up big plays,” said O’Fallon coach Byron Gettis, whose team was ranked No. 5 in the latest Class 8A AP poll. “When you play a team like East St. Louis, you have to continue to execute and continue to make adjustments That’s a really good team over there. But the DNA of our team is we’re going to play hard. That’s way we play. That’s the way we coach. We’re not afraid of anybody and we’ve got to play ball each week.”

O’Fallon jumped out to the quick 7-0 lead when senior quarterback Colt Michael hit wide receiver Jalen Smith, another senior, on a 13-yard touchdown pass with 7:35 left in the first quarter. Senior Brogam Hartman hit the point after.

East St. Louis, however, quickly responded as Battle connected with Miller on a 17-yard touchdown with 3:19 remaining in the first quarter. The point after failed.

Freshman Taryan Martin’s 6-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter gave the Flyers the lead for good. Battle connected with junior John Dailey for the two-point conversion and a 14-7 lead.

Flyers take advantage of short field

Then came the game’s two key sequences.

On the ensuing possession, O’Fallon punted from its own end zone, setting East St. Louis up with prime real estate. Following an unsportsmanlike penalty, Battle found Miller for a 30-yard scoring strike on 3rd and 25 and then hit junior Jesse Watson for the two-point conversion, upping the lead to 22-7 with 7:41 left in the half.

The Panthers then were again forced to punt from their own end zone, giving the Flyers possession at the 10. Battle ultimately found Hayden for a 5-yard touchdown and a 28-7 bulge, putting East St. Louis firmly in charge.

The Flyers added another score before halftime on sophomore Larevious Woods’ 7-yard touchdown run with 1:51 left. Sophomore Christopher Bennett Jr. ran in the two-point conversion for a 36-7 margin.

In the second half, Woods had a touchdown run (2 yards) and Battle added two scores (50 and 3 yards) on the ground. On the O’Fallon side, senior Chris Caldwell notched a touchdown run and Michael and Smith hooked up for a score.

Next up

Both teams again have 1 p.m. Saturday matinee league games Oct. 1, with the Flyers hosting Belleville West and O’Fallon visiting Belleville East. The Maroons (0-5, 0-2) are coming off a loss to Edwardsville, while the Lancers (3-2, 1-1) defeated Alton.

“(East) Coach (Michael) Harrison is a good coach; he’ll have them ready,” Gettis said. “He’s got those guys playing. They’re looking forward to that game and they’ll be excited to play. They’re another tough team. The game is on their field. You can’t look past any team in this conference or you’ll get beat. It’ll be another battle.”

This story was originally published September 24, 2022 at 6:54 PM.