IMG Academy barely beat East St. Louis the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Ascenders were the clear victors by  a  38-14 margin over the Flyers on Saturday. The  win continues a trend for the Ascenders in their matchups with the Flyers: they've now won three in a row.

 Le'Khy Thompkins
| 10/25/25 vs East St. Louis | 214 | 
| 08/28/25 @ Winslow Township | 188 | 
| 08/22/25 @ Hoover | 164 | 
| 10/17/25 vs Varsity Opponent | 149 | 
| 10/03/25 @ Venice | 112 | 
IMG Academy was led to victory by  Le'Khy Thompkins and  Jayden Wade.  Thompkins rushed for 214 yards while picking up 8.6 yards per carry, while  Wade rushed for 72 yards. Those  214  rushing yards gave  Thompkins a new career-high.
 They were just one part of a punishing run game: IMG Academy was unstoppable on the ground and  finished the game with 286  rushing yards. That's the most  rushing yards they've managed all season.
 On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to IMG Academy's defense and their three sacks. The team can thank three different players for their defensive prowess:  Zyron Forstall,  Christopher Ah-Loe,  and  James Morrow, who each picked up one  sack apiece.  Jake Kreul was another major factor on D,  forcing two fumbles, making five total tackles (2.0 for loss),  and defending one pass.
IMG Academy's victory bumped their record up to 8-0. As for East St. Louis,  with the  loss, they broke their five-game winning streak and moved their record to 5-3.
 Coming up, IMG Academy will venture away from home to  challenge Hun  at 8:00  p.m.  on Saturday. The two teams have allowed few  points on average (the Ascenders 13.2, the Raiders 14.9) so any  points scored will be well earned. As for East St. Louis, they will be playing at home against Plainfield East  at 7:00  p.m.  on Friday. The Bengals will aim to continue their three-game streak of scoring more  points each  matchup than the last.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps