Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008

East St. Louis Flyers put together incredible comeback to reach semis

EAST ST. LOUIS -- The East St. Louis Flyers refused to lose Saturday in the Class 7A quarterfinals at Clyde Jordan Stadium.

Trailing top-seeded Chicago St. Rita 28-7 midway through the third quarter, the Flyers responded with 28 consecutive points as they rallied for a 35-28 win before a near-capacity crowd.

Junior quarterback Detchauz Wray threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Kraig Appleton with 2 minutes and 45 seconds remaining to break a 28-28 tie.

And when All-State senior Terry Hawthorne intercepted his second pass of the game, this one with just over a minute remaining, the Flyers had reached the state semifinals for the second straight year.

Hawthorne led the way for East St. Louis as he caught scoring passes of 4 and 5 yards and returned an interception 17 yards for a score late in the third quarter to spark the comeback.

The win, which came in blustery conditions with a light mixture of freezing rain and snow falling for much of the second half, meant a lot to Flyers coach Darren Sunkett.

"This was a great high school football game and I'm very proud of this football team. They really showed a lot heart and character out here tonight," Sunkett said. "Down 21 points, these guys showed true heart and that they are a veteran ballclub.

"We wanted to show all St. Rita fans that yes we do have character and that we aren't just some inner-city football team."

The win puts the Flyers (11-1) into the Class 7A semifinals where they will take on (Glen Ellyn) Glenbard West, which defeated Downers Grove North 35-7 on Friday.

The game will be played at Glenbard West. The date and time will be announced Monday.

The Flyers' victory is even more impressive considering they survived four turnovers and a bad snap from center which led to three of the Mustangs' four touchdowns.

Two of those Flyers miscues came in the opening five minutes as St. Rita scored on its first two offensive plays to take a 14-0 lead with 6:30 left in the first quarter.

Following a Flyers fumble, Mustangs sophomore running back Johwon Akui raced 38 yards for the game's first score.

Three minutes later, following a botched snap from on a Flyers punt attempt, Dave Marciano scored on a 1-yard plunge to make it 14-0.

The Flyers had another turnover in the second quarter and two more in the second half, but St. Rita never took full advantage of the mistakes.

"We just didn't make the plays. We didn't move the chains when we needed too," St. Rita coach Todd Kuska said. "That (East St. Louis) is a good football team and we didn't take advantage of the opportunities.

"We were up 14-0 and 28-7 and we didn't put them away when we had the chance."

Trailing 14-0, the Flyers cut the lead in half when Wray fired a 41-yard scoring pass to Appleton late in the first quarter.

Wray finished the game 11-of-22 for 175 yards and four touchdowns.

Like they did in the first half, the Mustangs struck again early in the third quarter when Marciano returned the second-half kickoff 90 yards for a score.

A Flyers' turnover and a 26-yard scoring pass from quarterback Lawrence Garrett to Marciano then made it 28-7 with seven minutes left in the third quarter.

That's when Hawthorne took over.

Catching three passes, Hawthorne sparked a 65-yard drive which ended with him grabbing a 4-yard strike from Wray to make it 28-14.

Less than two minutes later, Hawthorne sent Flyers fans into a frenzy when he picked off a Garrett pass in the flat and returned it 17 yards for a score, pulling East St. Louis to within 28-21.

The Flyers then tied it up when Wray and Hawthorne connected on a 5-yard scoring pass on a fourth-and-goal play.

"Terry had a great football game but it wasn't all him. We had several others come up and make big plays for us," Sunkett said. "It was a great effort and comeback by the kids, but we can't get too excited. We've still got one more to get into the state title game."

Contact reporter Dean Criddle at 239-2665 or dcriddle@bnd.com.