East Side Scores 46 Unanswered Points To Pull Away From Alton For First Win

The Flyers were scheduled to play Gadson County in week two, but the Florida team, facing multiple sanctions from the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA), had to cancel its trip to Illinois.

Sep 20, 2025 11:45 AM Sep 20, 2025 11:47 AM

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East St. Louis junior free safety Jabarri Lofton brings down Alton’s freshman running back Tra’Von Burnett Friday, September 19, at Public School Stadium. (Photos by Brad Piros)

ALTON – The East St. Louis Flyers have had a whacky start to their 2025 football season.

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So far, it has included a week-one, 22-21 loss to Bergen Catholic of New Jersey, a week-two game cancellation, and a week-three 35-10 loss to Bishop Gorman of Nevada.

So, it wasn’t until week four that the Flyers picked up their first win, a 60-6 rout of Southwestern Conference foes Alton.

East Side scored on its first two possessions. First, a 16-yard touchdown pass from Jadon Wilson to Kortez Rupert at 9:53, and then a 42-yard rushing TD from Myson Johnson-Cook. Both extra point kicks were good from Damon Pruitt, and the Flyers led 14-0 with 7:40 remaining in the first.

Alton got on the board on the following drive when QB Cayden Robinson took a shot downfield and found Markeese Barnett for a 92-yard reception. The PAT was missed, and Alton trailed 14-6 with 6:01 left. The Redbirds would keep that momentum and stop the Flyers for the first time in the game, so 14-6 is how things stood after the first quarter.

The Flyers focused up and scored on their next four possessions to make it 40-6 at halftime.

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East St. Louis, which, depending on what rankings you look at, is around a top-25 team in the nation and undoubtedly the best team in Illinois, had a big night from its go-to running backs.

Johnson-Cook finished with 88 yards rushing while Amir Tillman led with 138. Ahmad Coleman ran for 87 yards.

Jadon Wilson threw for 131 yards. His favorite target was Kortez, who had 80 yards receiving.

MaxPreps has the Flyers ranked 37th in the nation as of Thursday, September 18. The High School Football America 100 Powered by NFL Play Football has the Flyers as high as 29.

Their two losses both came to top 10, arguably top five teams in the nation.

The Flyers improve to 1-2 on the season and will host Belleville West (2-2) on Friday, September 26 at 7 p.m. It will be one of only two regular-season home games.

The Redbirds fall to 0-4 on the year and travel to O’Fallon next Friday.