Air game, defense boost Belleville East to season kickoff victory
A steady passing performance from Kayden Wood and a dominating defense allowed the Belleville East Lancers to make short work of Collinsville in high school football on Friday night.
Wood threw for three touchdowns while East’s offense erupted for 20 first-quarter points, and the defense did its part as the Lancers rolled to a 40-6 mercy-rule win at Charlie Woodford Field at Belleville East High School.
East came out strong on offense as Wood connected with James Johnson Jr. on a 4-yard touchdown pass on the opening drive. On the next possession, senior running back Josh Ware broke loose for a 40-yard touchdown run, putting the Lancers up 13-0 just three minutes, 27 seconds into the game.
The quick start helped the Lancers settle in offensively.
“That was awesome,” Wood said. “You always want to score first and as soon as possible to put more pressure on the defense.”
Belleville East coach Michael Harrison echoed Wood’s sentiments.
“When we can have our captains and best players go out and make plays to open up the game, it really relaxes everybody else and kind of eases the rest of the guys into it, so for us it was nice to get off to that good start,” Harrison said.
Next, it was the Lancers’ defense’s turn to contribute, as Johnson, who also plays cornerback, picked off Collinsville quarterback Jace Wilkinson and returned the interception 40 yards for a touchdown to make it 20-0 late in the first quarter.
“This is my first year on defense, and I feel like it’s something my team needs,” Johnson said. “The pick-6 in particular, I wouldn’t be able to do it without my team. He ended up throwing, I jumped up, and I’m thankful for my blockers; they paved the way and all I had to do was follow them.”
Wood capped the Lancers’ dominant first half with a 37-yard touchdown pass to Cary Willis, making it 26-0 at halftime.
“It was a go route by the receiver, a good way to get open, and I just put it there,” Wood said.
East (1-0) pushed the lead to 33-0 on a 45-yard touchdown run by Ware — his second of the night — which triggered the running clock midway through the third quarter.
While the Lancers’ offense was rolling, their defense was in control. Led by University of Cincinnati recruit Jonathan Rulo and Antwan Brown, East’s defense allowed no points until the fourth quarter.
“Our defense is playing pretty good, and when Jonathan Rulo and Antwan Brown can control the line of scrimmage like that, and we get Jacory Brown bringing pressure off the edge, it makes it really tough on opposing offenses,” Harrison said.
A 30-yard touchdown pass from Wood to Amir Brown finished the Lancers’ scoring with 6:26 left in the third quarter.
Wood finished 9-of-18 passing for 104 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Collinsville (0-1) avoided the shutout thanks to a 36-yard Wilkinson-to-Matt Reynolds scoring pass with 5:18 left.
Belleville East’s win was its fourth straight season-opening victory over Collinsville.
Belleville East travels to Pekin next Friday for a Week 2 contest. Collinsville plays at Centralia.
In other action
Belleville West 40
Mascoutah 21
Quarterback Caden Capell rushed for three second-half touchdowns to boost the Maroons to a win at Bob Goalby Field.
Sean Murphy scored his second touchdown for Mascoutah with less than a minute in the first half to narrow the West lead to 21-14. But Capell scored on runs of 10, 5 and 23 yards to widen the margin.
Capell also connected with wide receive Nick Hankens on an 80-yard scoring pass in the second quarter. Hankins and Dewande Taylor each broke 71-yard touchdown runs in the win.
Althoff 34
Alton 13
Illinois’ defending class 1A champions opened at home with a dominating win.
Crusader quarterback Jayden Ellington rushed for 109 yards and a pair of scores in addition to connecting on 14 of 16 passes with a touchdown. Steven Brown carried for 108 yards and scored three times.