East St. Louis dominates Loyola 34-7 in battle of state powerhouses

NORMAL — East St. Louis wanted to make a statement Saturday night.

A year after opening the season with a loss to Mount Carmel at Illinois State’s Hancock Stadium, the Flyers came back on a mission. This time, they wanted to show they can compete against another CCL/ESCC Blue powerhouse, Loyola.

Mission accomplished.

The Flyers showed off their speed and dominated in what some called the game of the year. East St. Louis took down the two-time Class 8A defending state champion Ramblers 34-7, ending Loyola’s 19-game win streak dating back to 2022.

“That’s one hell of a team,” Loyola senior quarterback Ryan Fitzgerald said. “I will bet on them to beat every single team. I know they play a lot of good teams, but that’s one hell of a team out there.”

The Flyers dominated with their speed in all three phases of the game. After new Flyers quarterback Kendrick Lyons threw an interception to Loyola’s Gabe Brooks in his first possession, he regrouped and threw a 26-yard touchdown to Chris Bennett Jr. on the next to make it 6-0 with 6:39 left in the first quarter.

He kept it going on the Flyers’ next offensive play when he found Kortez Rupert for a deep 74-yard pass to make it 12-0 Flyers with 4:56 left in the first quarter.

East St. Louis also used its speed for big punt returns. After the Flyers started a drive on Loyola’s 15 yard line, Laverious Woods scored on a 3-yard run to make it 20-0 with 8:20 left in the second quarter.

Lyons hit Ronnie GoMiller for a 7-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter and completed one last touchdown to Amir Tillman in the fourth quarter.

“They’re a matchup problem,” Loyola coach Beau Desherow said. “Their speed, I’ve never seen speed like that. They’re fast.”

Lyons completed 23 of his 26 passes for 276 yards while Bennett finished with 72 receiving yards.

Despite taking over at quarterback, Lyons felt comfortable because of the talent around him. East St. Louis wanted to set the tone early, and despite the interception, they cruised the rest of the way.

“We’re very explosive,” Lyons said. “One play we can be in the end zone just like that. It makes my job easier.”

Loyola’s lone score came after Gavin King scooped a fumble and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown with 3:01 left in the third quarter. That was the only scoring the Ramblers could muster after not handling the Flyers’ size up front along with their speed from their linebackers.

“That’s one hell of a team. I will bet on them to beat every single team. I know they play a lot of good teams, but that’s one hell of a team out there.”

—  Ryan Fitzgerald, Loyola senior quarterback

The Ramblers went three-and-out seven times in the game before pulling the starters once the Flyers took a 34-7 lead. Fitzgerald completed eight of his 15 passes for 33 yards and had the longest play of the day for Loyola on a 50-yard run.

“I felt like I fell short in this game,” Fitzgerald said. “It stings and it hurts but I have full confidence in our team to come back next and put on a great performance.”

Desherow was quick to remind the Ramblers of its last large-deficit loss after their one on Saturday. The Ramblers lost 35-3 to Brother Rice and started the season 3-3. Loyola went on to beat Brother Rice 13-3 to win the 8A state championship.

“This loss isn’t going to define who we are,” Desherow said. “All of our goals are still in place. We can still execute what we want to do. We want to be playoff eligible, we want to win the CCL/ESCC Blue and we want to be state champions.”