East St. Louis Flyers named to the 12th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard

MaxPreps is pleased to announce that the East St. Louis (Ill.) Flyers have officially been named to the 12th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard, which is in its 12th year honoring football.

This is one of the most prestigious team awards in all of high school sports and it is an exclusive honor reserved for the top 100 teams nationwide. In order to be eligible, a team must win a state championship and be highly ranked in the MaxPreps National Rankings. For football, only 50 of the country's best are invited and with nearly 17,000 competing varsity teams. This puts the Flyers ahead of 99.9 percent of their opponents!
On Saturday, Nov. 26 the East St. Louis Flyers capped a perfect, undefeated season with a 26-13 win over the Plainfield North Tigers for the IHSA Class 7A state championship. This is the school's first football state title since 2008 and eighth overall.

East St. Louis quarterback Reyondous Estes completed 5-of-7 passes for 120 yards and three touchdowns. Receiver Jeff Thomas caught three passes from Estes for 105 yards and two touchdowns. As a team, the Flyers kept the momentum on their side for the majority of the game and held a 26-0 lead over the Tigers at the end of the third quarter, which was enough to secure the state final win.

En route to the championship game, East St. Louis dominated the 2016 IHSA Class 7A state playoff bracket with wins over Lincoln-Way West (44-7), Glenbard North (34-28), Willowbrook (60-27) and Benet Academy (20-0).

At the end of the season, head coach Darren Sunkett and the Flyers finished highly ranked by MaxPreps — No.1 in Class 7A, No.3 in the state, No.17 in the Midwest region and No.70 in the nation.



These incredible season achievements have earned the East St. Louis Flyers an invitation to the 12th Annual Tour of Champions.

Please join us as we celebrate with the football team, coaching staff, students and fans on Friday, Feb. 3 at 7:30 p.m. during halftime in the gym.

For more information about the Tour of Champions, please visit the MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.