Saturday, Sep. 06, 2008

Another tough foe awaits Flyers

Washington, D.C., school will visit Clyde Jordan Stadium

For the second straight week, the East St. Louis Flyers will test themselves against a national-caliber prep football team.

The Flyers, who dropped a 20-12 decision to the Huber Heights Wayne (Ohio) Warriors last Sunday, will christen the new FieldTurf surface at Clyde C. Jordan Stadium today against the St. John's Cadets from Washington D.C.

Game time has been moved to 2 p.m.

"It's definitely a tough schedule," Flyers coach Darren Sunkett said. "We've got two quality programs and we're going to be tested early, but that's a good thing. It lets us know where we stand, what we have to work on."

St. John's isn't used to traveling this far for a road game.

"We try to travel every year, but this is the first time we've gone further than Pennsylvania," said St. John's coach Joe Patterson, whose team is playing every game on the road this season while a new FieldTurf surface is being installed at its school. "We were struggling to find a game and had been making calls for several months. They heard we were looking for a game and they called us, so it worked out."

East Side dropped to No. 2 in the Illinois Class 7A state poll this week and also fell from the ESPN/Rise Fab 50 national rankings.

The Flyers couldn't hold a 12-0 lead against Wayne, which got heavy pressure on quarterback Detchauz Wray. Wray completed 10-of-21 passes for 127 yards while Illinois recruits Terry Hawthorne (four catches, 43 yards) and Kraig Appleton (two catches, 48 yards) were kept in check.

"He's coming out this year feeling like he's still got something to prove," Sunkett said of Wray. "He wants to take this team a step further than what he took them last year. His game is a lot more polished."

St. John's graduated eight Division I players from its 8-3 2007 squad -- including Syracuse running back Antwon Bailey -- but still have eight returning starters on defense.

The Cadets have trouble with longtime Washington Catholic Conference rivals DeMatha and Good Counsel, but handle just about everyone else.

"Typically we have one or two teams from the conference get some national recognition," Patterson said.

Former Rams defensive lineman and 12-year NFL veteran Jay Williams prepped at St. John's, as did Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Conrad Bolston.

The Cadets' massive offensive line led by 6-foot-5, 340-pound senior tackle Peter White, a four-year starter. White was rated the No. 4 guard prospect in the country by rivals.com and has offers from Tennessee, Florida, Maryland, Oregon and Illinois.

"St. Johns's has a pretty good history with lineman and Pete's certainly the best that's come through here in my time as head coach," Patterson said.

The Cadets beat Calvert Hall 19-15 last week in their season opener. Quarterback Ed Thomas, a converted defensive back, used his speed to roll up 113 yards and three touchdowns. He also completed six passes for 52 yards.

"He's one of the faster kids on the team and also one of the strongest," Patterson said.

Other top players for St. John's are senior middle linebacker DeAngelo Williams, junior defensive back-wide receiver Charles Brown and junior defensive lineman Andre Monroe (6-1, 265).

Patterson said he's seen some game film from the Flyers' loss last week as well as from last season.

"They're very talented," he said. "They do a good job of using their athletes. The expectations are that they're going to put points up."

Contact reporter Norm Sanders at nsanders@bnd.com or 239-2454.