Belleville East overcomes West to tie up spot in Illinois football playoffs

A sluggish start and an early Belleville West touchdown put the Belleville East football team in a tough spot Friday night.

The Lancers fell behind 7-0 after a Caden Capell touchdown run, but they regrouped behind quarterback Kayden Wood and a resilient defense to defeat archrival West 27-14 in a Southwestern Conference game at Bob Goalby Field.

Wood ran for two touchdowns, threw for two more and the East defense contained Nick Hankins and the West offense as Belleville East improved to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in conference play, bolstering its chances for a home playoff game.

“I’ve got to give hats off to Coach Turner. They were ready to go and kind of caught us on our heels right off the bat,” East coach Michael Harrison said. “Capell is a heck of an athlete, and he made a big run to take it to the house. It was kind of a wake-up call for us. After that, I was happy with the way we responded.”

Belleville West (3-5, 1-4) struck first just 14 seconds into the game, as Capell raced 69 yards for a touchdown.

After a scoreless opening drive, East responded with a 36-yard touchdown run by Wood off left tackle, tying the game at 7. Early in the second quarter, Wood gave the Lancers the lead for good with a 1-yard quarterback sneak. East’s defense then settled in, helping the Lancers take a 14-7 lead into halftime.

“I felt that touchdown changed things for us motivationally,” Wood said. “We came down and scored, and then continued to control the game.”

Wood and Willis were effective through the air, as Wood completed 19 of 28 passes for 231 yards and Willis had 12 catches for 148 yards.

“I was just spreading the ball around and trying to get all my playmakers opportunities,” Wood said.

Wood’s 30-yard touchdown strike to DeJuan Cotton late in the third quarter made it 27-7. That allowed the Lancer defense to stifle Capell, Hankins, and the Maroons, holding West to just one more score in the fourth quarter.

“Our defense started off a little slow at the beginning,” East linebacker Jonathan Rulo said. “Later in the game, we picked it up and had great intensity. Overall, I feel like our defense came together toward the end.”

Rulo and Kenny McCline led the East defense with seven tackles apiece, while Jacori Brown added six tackles.

Despite the fast start, West was hampered by pre-snap penalties and execution errors.

“We made mistakes like jumping offside, and little mistakes on things we thought we could do — too many mental mistakes,” West coach Ken Turner said. “They’ve got a good defense. It was a competitive game, but we weren’t good enough tonight.”

This story was originally published October 18, 2025 at 7:27 AM.