East St. Louis Opens Defense Of Class 6A Championship With Convincing 63-7 Win Over Plainfield East In Playoff Opener
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By COLIN FEENEY
EAST ST. LOUIS --- East St. Louis' football team opened its defense of its IHSA Class 6A state championship in grand style on Friday night, using all kinds of big plays to take a 63-7 win over Plainfield East in a first-round playoff game at Clyde C. Jordan Memorial Stadium.
The Flyers exploded for 41 points in the second quarter to take a 55-7 lead at halftime, triggering the second-half running clock rule, as East Side easily advanced to the second round.
After taking an early 7-0 lead, East Side's quarterback, Reece Shanklin, threw 50 yards to Kortez Rupert to double the Flyers' lead to 14-0 after the conversion. The Bengals got their only touchdown in the ensuing possession to make it 14-7, but the Flyers came right back with Shanklin hitting Amir Tillman for a 45-yard touchdown pass to give the Flyers a 21-7 lead.
In the second quarter, Myson Johnson-Cook ran in from one yard out to increase the lead to 27-7 after the convert was missed, then Ahmad Coleman went on a 20-yard touchdown run, Ronnie Gomiller took a Bengal punt back 75 yards for another touchdown that made the score 41-7, Shanklin threw his third touchdown pass of the game 15 yards to Jamarion Flowers, and Gomiller took another punt back 40 yards for a touchdown to end the scoring blitz and make the Flyers' lead 55-7 at halftime.
The only touchdown of the second half came on a pass completion and two-point conversion late as the Flyers took their 63-7 win to advance to the second round.
Plainfield East ends its season at 6-4, while the Flyers go to 7-3, and will play the winner of Joliet Catholic Academy and top-seeded Chatham Glenwood, who play tomorrow afternoon, in a second-round game, with site, date, and time to be announced on Monday.
