East St. Louis battles adversity, can’t complete comeback vs. Cary-Grove in IHSA Class 6A state championship

NORMAL – East St. Louis was dealt a massive blow early in the third quarter of the IHSA Class 6A state championship versus Cary-Grove at Hancock Stadium on Saturday when four-year starting quarterback Robert Battle exited the game with an apparent lower leg injury.

But the way the Flyers responded to that injury spoke volumes about their mental toughness.

“I’d like to say that I’m proud of my guys. I’m proud of the guys up here,” ESL coach Darren Sunkett said. “They gave all they had. We just came up a little too short.”

ESL (11-3) has had a remarkable run over the past five years. Since 2019, the Flyers have played in four straight state championships – three with Battle at quarterback – including last year’s 57-7 championship win against Prairie Ridge. This year’s state championship was a rematch for ESL, who lost 37-36 to Cary-Grove in 2021′s title game.

The Flyers started the 2023 championship slow, trailing 15-6 at halftime, then flipped the script early in the second half.

C-G (12-2) took an 8-0 lead midway through the first quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by sophomore fullback Logan Abrams.

Battle answered that score with a 2-yard touchdown run at the end of a 13-play, 80-yard scoring drive, drawing ESL within 8-6 with 11:57 remaining in the second quarter.

A 19-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Peyton Seaburg to senior running back Andrew Prio put C-G up 15-6 with 8:08 left in the first half.

“We knew all week they weren’t going to give up the big plays. We had to move the chains using our run game and the short passing game,” Sunkett said. “They had safeties playing 15 yards deep, corners playing 10 yards deep, so we knew we wouldn’t get the big ball off over top. We did a good job on moving the ball all day. We didn’t get in the lead once in the first half, but it’s tough when you don’t get as many touches as you want.

“They do a great job controlling the clock and keeping the ball out of your offense’s hands.”

Before he exited the game, Battle set up ESL for its second score. Passing for 50 yards and rushing for 10 on his final decisive drive, the senior quarterback moved his team to the C-G 18 with just over nine minutes remaining in the third quarter.

On the next play after Battle was helped off the field and replaced by freshman quarterback Reese Shanklin, junior running back Larevious Woods dashed up the middle for an 18-yard touchdown. The score, which pulled the Flyers within 15-13, was the start of a big momentum swing. After forcing a three-and-out and punt on the Trojans’ next possession, ESL got a huge fourth-and-1 stop on its following possession to force a turnover on downs and give its offense short field.

Junior linebacker Keylan LaGrant flew to the line of scrimmage and stuffed Seaburg for no gain on the pivotal play. After that, the Flyers took over at the C-G 29 with 3:13 remaining in the third.

Woods capped the ensuing 8-play, 29-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard touchdown run, giving ESL its first lead of the game, 20-15, with 11:56 remaining in the game.

“We knew we had to depend on Woods. We didn’t want to put too much on our young quarterback. He’s just a freshman,” Sunkett said. “So we wanted to completely dominate up front, and I thought we did a great job of that. We moved the ball down the field and punched it into the end zone. We might’ve scored just a little too quick. We weren’t able to get the ball back until about a minute left, but I thought the team rallied around Reese. I thought the o-line rallied around him, and like I said, we did a good job running of the ball and going up 20-15 at that point.”

C-G’s final drive, which spanned 19 plays and 71 yards, took 10:41 off the clock. Abrams scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 2-yard run with 1:19 to play, then ran in the two-point conversion for a 23-20 lead.

On the ensuing ESL possession, senior defensive back Patrick Weaver jumped a sideline route for an interception, sealing the win with 1:02 remaining.

“Pops (Robert Battle) definitely adds that extra dynamic that we were missing. That last drive, you’re talking about a dual-threat quarterback who can move things out from the pocket. It definitely would’ve been nice to have it,” Sunkett said. “I hate to see him end his career the way it happened with an injury and couldn’t finish the ballgame, but he’s had a great four-year career and he gave it all up for his team today.”

Battle completed 14 of 16 passes for 139 yards and rushed eight times for 56 yards. Woods rushed 17 times for 98 yards and two touchdowns. Christopher Bennett Jr. caught 11 passes for 94 yards to lead ESL in receiving.