East St. Louis set to battle Prairie Ridge in IHSA 6A finals seeking 10th state title
Forgive the East St. Louis Flyers if they’re experiencing a case of deju-a-vu.
In the 2021 IHSA Class 6A state championship game, East St. Louis faced a Cary-Grove team that featured a triple option offense. The Flyers ultimately came out on the short end of a 37-36 outcome.
A year later, the Flyers find themselves in the virtually the same position: Playing for the Class 6A state championship again against another triple option team in Prairie Ridge.
East St. Louis faces the Wolves in the title game at 1 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign. Flyers coach Darren Sunkett hopes his club fairs better against the unique offensive set this go around.
“They are very similar offenses — copy cat offenses,” Sunkett said about Cary-Grove and Prairie Ridge on Monday during a conference call with reporters. “Hopefully, we can do a lot better as far as slowing these guys down. We didn’t do a good job of that last year ... we had a feeling we’d see this type of offense again.”
Sunkett’s sixth-seeded team carries a 10-game winning streak and an 11-2 mark into Saturday’s contest, while the Wolves, the No. 2 seed, have won nine straight and are 12-1.
Sunkett says his team — which defeated Prairie Ridge 43-21 in the 2019 6A title game — will once again be challenged by the triple option.
“We don’t see any teams like that until we get to this point,” said Sunkett, whose team rallied past Lemont 32-29 in the semifinals. “That’s an offense not many teams run any more — especially in this area. We don’t have a lot of time to prepare for those guys — only three days to prepare for something you never see. And there’s no way to simulate (in practice) what they do offensively. The main thing is figuring out their blocking schemes.”
The Prairie Grove scouting report
Engineering Prairie Grove’s triple option offense is senior quarterback Tyler Vasey, who has rushed for an IHSA record 3,776 yards and 58 touchdowns on 317 carries this fall. That’s good for an 11.9 yards-per-carry average.
In a quarterfinal win against Harlem High School, Vasey rushed for a Class 6A playoff record 481 yards and eight touchdowns in the 69-28 victory.
“Tyler is probably one of my favorite kids we’ve had in our program by the way he’s handled things on the field and off the field,” Wolves coach Chris Schremp said during the conference call. “You want to talk about the All-American boy — that’s Tyler Vasey. He’s really kind of a slasher kind of back.
“To see him cut back and stop and start .... he has a little bit of power and can run over people. His 0-to-60 is amazing how quickly he can get going. That slashing type of running is the most impressive thing.”
Sunkett added this about Vasey, also a standout shortstop, “If we can slow him down and force the ball out of his hands a little bit and make other guys beat us who haven’t carried the ball as much, we’re doing some things right.”
Prairie Grove senior running back Nathan Greetham has enjoyed a big season as well, rushing for 1,303 yards and 17 touchdowns on 213 carries. Overall, the Wolves average 43.4 points per game.
Looking toward Saturday, Schremp said they’ve reviewed film of last year’s title game to see what things worked for Cary-Grove as well as film from the 2019 title game.
“As a coach, you’re always trying to get whatever advantage you can. We’ve been diving through every bit of film we can get our hands on,” said Schremp, whose team used a last-second field goal to defeat Saint Ignatius College Prep 21-19 in the semifinals.
The East St. Louis scouting report
Not to be outdone, East St. Louis has a dynamic and high-powered offense of its own, amassing 591 points in 13 games (45.4 average)
“They’re offense poses something that we don’t see in the Fox Valley quite as much — just the speed all over the field,” Schremp said, referencing the conference his team plays in. “We’re just going to try to do our best to try to put pressure on their quarterback but also try to stop their unbelievable wall of an offensive line and try to slow that running game down.”
Anchoring that running game is sophomore running back TaRyan Martin, who has rushed for 1,382 yards and 21 touchdowns on 179 carries. Against Lemont alone, Martin ran for 349 yards and three touchdowns.
Junior quarterback Robert Battle, meanwhile, has thrown for 1,916 yards and 21 touchdowns while rushing for 670 yards and 10 touchdowns. Wide receivers Christopher Bennett Jr., a sophomore, and Jesse Watson, a junior, have combined for 68 receptions, 892 yards and 11 touchdowns.
“We need to establish either the running game or the passing game,” Sunkett said. “It’s kind of predicated on what they’re going to try to take from us. We’re able to do either one. Whatever they’re giving us, we’re going to take it.”
Schremp emphasized the importance of limiting big plays.
“Somehow, we have to try to stop and slow down their running game,” Schremp said. “They’re going to get some big runs with the athletes they have. But we have to make them earn it. We can’t give up any big punt returns or kick returns. We need to make them run as many plays as possible to try to force them into some mistakes that way.”
Keys to success for both teams
One thing both coaches agree on is the importance of having success on first down. For East St. Louis, it’s limiting Prairie Grove’s yardage and forcing it into uncomfortable second- and third-down situations.
“With a team like this, first down is key,” Sunkett said. “So our main focus point is really shutting them down on first down. And if we can do that again on second down, they’re playing into our hands. We want to do a great job on 1st and 10 with these guys. We feel like if we can do that for four quarters, we’ll be ahead of the game.
“We want to get them into second and third and long situations and make them do some things they’re not used to doing.”
On the flip side, for the Wolves, getting tangible gains on first down to make second and third down manageable — along with sustaining drives and keeping the clock moving — are paramount, Schremp said.
“The big key for us is getting three yards on first down, making sure we come off the ball and get a positive play,” Schremp said. “What we call it in our offense is staying on schedule. If we can consistently gain three or four yards ... and we can get drives of 12, 15, 18 plays where we’re grinding it out. Just being able to always get positive yardage, not have negative plays, avoid penalities ... that’s huge against a team like this. We don’t want to get into passing situations with East St. Louis.”
Arrival in Champaign
Sunkett said his team planned to arrive in Champaign on Friday to avoid scrambling Saturday morning. With a 1 p.m. start, Sunkett stressed the importance of his players having normal rest.
“We don’t want to get our kids up at 4 a.m. and have to hit the road 8 or 9 o’clock and be on the road 2 1/2 hours and then get off the bus and have a football game to play,” he said. “We want to keep our schedule as normal as we can to stay on the schedule they’re used to.”
Loving what he’s doing
Sunkett also highlighted how much he cherishes his job as the East St. Louis football coach, insisting it keeps him youthful.
“There’s nothing more that I’d want to do. I enjoy being around the kids. I think have one of the best jobs in America. I get to get up and stay young with a bunch of great athletes. It’s just a great atmosphere around here. There’s not another job that I’d want. I love what I do. It’s not even like a job,” he said.
Bringing the title home for J6
Sunkett was asked Monday about Jaylon McKenzie, a member of the Flyers who was shot and tragically killed in 2019. Sunkett said coming home from Champaign with the title in honor of McKenzie would carry additional meaning.
“Jalyon is still very much missed on our team, in our community and in our school. It’s tough to have a kid taken away from you that way,” Sunkett said. “My kids and myself, we wear a ban on our arms each and every day. We definitely play with a purpose each and every week. We want to do it for him. It would be great to be able to bring that championship home for him. We know he’s watching down over us.”
Said Martin after the Lemont win, “I had to do it for J6. That’s why I wear No. 6.”
Enrollment numbers
With an enrollment of 1,133, East St. Louis is the smallest of all its 6A playoff opponents.
Prairie Ridge has an enrollment of 1,338, Lemont 1,376, Crete-Monee 1,447, Normal Community West 1,624 and Oak Lawn Richards 1,626.
Snapshot of East St. Louis & Prairie Ridge
Records/seeds: East St. Louis is 11-2 and seeded No. 6. Prairie Ridge is 12-1 and seeded No. 2.
Kickoff: 1 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign.
More about East St. Louis, Prairie Ridge: The Flyers won the Southwestern Conference with a 5-0 mark. The Wolves finished in a 3-way tie for 1st place in the Fox Valley Conference with an 8-1 record. East St. Louis has won 10-straight games while Prairie Ridge has won nine-straight contests.
Semifinal playoff game: The Flyers defeated Lemont 32-29. Prairie Ridge defeated Saint Ignatius College Prep 21-19.
Preview state finals match-up: The two teams met in the 2019 Class 6A title game with the Flyers rolling to a 43-21 victory at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. East St. Louis led 20-14 heading into the 4th quarter before erupting for 23 points the final 12 minutes. Flyers quarterback Tyler Macon stole the show, completing 14-of-19 passes for 304 yards and 3 touchdowns as ESL finished 14-0 that season.
State experience: East St. Louis has competed in 13 state championship games, winning 9. Prairie Ridge has been in 4 state championship games, winning 3.
East St. Louis players to watch: QB Robert Battle (144-243, 1,916 yards, 21 TD; 105 rushes, 670 yards, 10 TD); RB Larevious Woods (113 rushes, 761 yards, 12 TD); RB TaRyan Martin (179 rushes, 1,382 yards, 21 TD); WR Christopher Bennett Jr. (36 catches, 437 yards, 3 TD); WR Jesse Watson (32 receptions, 455 yards, 8 TD); LB Dominic Dixon (115 tackles, 38 assists, 153 total tackles, 11 sacks); OL Miles McVay.
Prairie Ridge players to watch: QB Tyler Vasey (317 rushes, 3,776 yards rushing, 58 TD) 3,609 yards rushing); RB Nathan Greetham (213 rushes, 1,303 yards, 17 TD).
BND reporter Ahmad Lathan contributed to this story.
