
EDWARDSVILLE - Senior Ronnie Gomiller led the way with four touchdowns, three on the ground, and a stout defense held Edwardsville off the board as East St. Louis defeated the Tigers 35-0 in their annual game Friday night at Tiger Stadium.
The Flyers are now 5-1 on the season, and defeated Edwardsville for the 11th straight time, taking a big step towards winning the Gold Division of the Southwestern Conference. The Tigers have not won over East Side since Sept. 13, 2014, when Edwardsville won a 57-32 decision at Clyde C. Jordan Memorial Stadium. The Tigers won a 2-0 forfeit over the Flyers in 2015, due to a teacher's strike in East St. Louis.
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After the Tigers and Flyers were scoreless in the first quarter, East Side struck first on a 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Reece Shanklin to Gomiller to put the Flyers ahead 7-0. The Flyers then got an interception from Philip White, and struck again late in the period on a 26-yard run by Gomiller to take a 14-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.
In the third quarter, Edwardsville stopped a drive deep in their own territory by recovering a fumble at the three, but couldn't do anything with it, and punted back to the Flyers. Gomiller scored his third touchdown of the e game on a 17-yard run to make the score 21-0, then East Side recovered a fumble on the Edwardsville 27. The Flyers cashed in the turnover on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Shanklin to Laron Baker, Jr. to push the lead up to 28-0 at three-quarter time.
After stopping Edwardsville on downs in the fourth quarter, Gomiller rambled to the Tiger 36 on a big run, and it helped set up the final Flyer touchdown, a five-yard run by Gomiller, to give the Flyers a 35-0 lead. The East Side defense held off the Tigers the rest of the way to give East Side the win.
The Flyers are now 5-1 on the season, and are at Belleville West next Friday night, while the Tigers go to 2-4, and will host O'Fallon next Friday night, with both games starting at 7 p.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story