East St. Louis continued their late season surge Friday, defeating Collinsville 42-7.
The Flyers (5-2 Southwestern Conference, 6-3 overall) qualified for the playoffs with the win and have now won five consecutive games, after dropping three straight. The Kahoks (0-7 SWC, 1-8 overall) finished their second consecutive season with a single victory.
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In the final regular season game for both teams, East St. Louis jumped on top 14-0 before three minutes were played. Senior quarterback Dominc Nelson connected with freshman wide receiver Jeff Thomas for a touchdown on the game’s opening drive. Collinsville’s opening drive ended with a pick-six when senior defensive back Treevon Prater intercepted a pass from sophomore quarterback Jordan Reichert and returned it for a touchdown by.
Despite the early setbacks, Collinsville continued to battle and did not surrender another score until there were less than six minutes remaining in the half. Junior running back Marvin Young scored from five yards out on a drive highlighted by 23 yard, fourth down and two run by senior running back/wide receiver Gregory Taylor.
Collinsville Head Coach John Blaylock said his team’s lack of strength started to get exposed about midway through the second half. A 1-yard punt from deep in their own territory did not help. Taylor capped the ensuing four play, 23-yard drive with the Flyers second 5-yard touchdown run in as many possessions.
The Kahoks season long battle with turnovers continued in this game. Reichert threw two first half interceptions and, following the Flyers consecutive scoring drives, he lost a fumble at the Collinsville 36. Two plays later, it was Nelson’s turn to score a rushing touchdown. Nelson’s 2-yard keeper gave the Flyers a 35-0 lead and capped the first half scoring.
With another big first half, East St. Louis appeared to be on their way to their third straight home game of scoring at least 60 points. However, they could manage only one more score in the game. The overmatched Kahoks played the Flyers to a 7-7 draw after the halftime whistle. “The kids played their butts off in the second half,” Blaylock said.
Young scored the final touchdown of the game for the home team with just under two minutes remaining in the third quarter. The extra point from Julio Chavez tumbled end-over-end through the uprights to make the score 42-0.
Jamal Wellmaker runs around right end against East St. Louis / Photo by Roger Starkey
Senior quarterback-turned-wide-receiver Connor Zabala ended his final high school game in style when he out battled his defender to make a leaping touchdown grab with five seconds remaining. The play before, Zabala caught a screen pass behind the line of scrimmage and somehow eluded a defender that was nearly on top of him when the ball arrived. Zabala circled the defender and made a gaggle of Flyers miss en route to an 11-yard reception.
The final score was 42-7 in favor of East St. Louis. The Kahoks 35-point margin of loss was better than the Flyers’ last four opponents and the 42 points scored were their second fewest during their five game winning streak.
“Not that I’m pleased with a 42-7 score, but they’ve done a lot worse to some other teams in our conference this year,” Blaylock said.
Collinsville will return to the weight room on Dec. 1, Blaylock said. He has preached the importance of strength training to the team throughout his first season as the Kahoks head coach.
The Flyers will find out Saturday who is their first-round opponent and where the game will be played. East St. Louis will enter the playoffs on a roll, but they are not the class of the conference, Blaylock said.
“Edwardsville’s playing at a different standard than all of us,” Blaylock said. The Tigers finished a perfect regular season Friday, defeating Belleville East 20-0. Edwardsville defeated Collinsville 48-0 on Sept. 27.
The playoffs begin next weekend.
