Belleville West is 1-9 against East St. Louis since September of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Maroons will square off against the Flyers at 7:00 p.m. Belleville West has given up an average of 27.5 points per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.
Last Friday, Belleville West lost to Edwardsville on the road by a 48-30 margin. While losing is never fun, the Maroons can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois football rankings (they are ranked 209th, while the Tigers are ranked 50th).
Meanwhile, a well-balanced attack led East St. Louis over Alton in every quarter on their way to victory on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that the Flyers blew the Redbirds out of the water with a 60-6 final score. The matchup was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Flyers had established a 47-point advantage.
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Myson Johnson-Cook and Amir Tillman. Johnson-Cook rushed for 88 yards and three touchdowns while Tillman rushed for 138 yards and one TD on only eight carries. Those 138 rushing yards gave Tillman a new career-high. Kortez Rupert also helped out with an impressive 80 receiving yards.
East St. Louis' run defense was locked in: Alton could only muster -2.2 yards per carry. While two picked up at least eight total tackles, Jahadi White stood above the rest. He picked up three sacks and made eight total tackles. East St. Louis didn't have any issues in that department, having averaged 16.5.
East St. Louis' defense also made the game a nightmare for Cayden Robinson., racking up seven sacks. The heavy lifting was done by White and Cornell McIntosh, who racked up five sacks between them. East St. Louis got some further help from Omari Hogan: he picked up a sack and made seven total tackles (7.0 for loss).
East St. Louis' first win this season bumped their record up to 1-2. As for Belleville West, their loss dropped their record down to 2-2.
Belleville West was taken down by East St. Louis 63-0 in their previous meeting back in October of 2024. Thankfully for the Maroons, Larevious ?Fresh? Woods (who rushed for 139 yards and three scores on only 12 carries) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
