NORMAL, IL—East St. Louis’ reputation in Illinois high school football is special. Lately, the Flyers have been bigger, faster, and bolder than any other program. They are the only team in the state regularly featured in national rankings. And everywhere they go, thousands of fans travel along with them.
Saturday in Normal, East St. Louis met its match. Mount Carmel took control early and then held off a ferocious comeback from the Flyers to win 36-33 at Illinois State’s Hancock Stadium.
Caravan junior Jack Elliott made his first start at quarterback, stepping in for Blainey Dowling, who led the team to a 14-0 season and Class 7A state title last season.
Elliott was confident and tremendously physical, more than living up to the praise his teammates and coaches lavished on him in the preseason. He finished with 22 carries for 177 yards and one touchdown. He was 13 of 26 for 108 yards and a touchdown.
“He’s a winner,” Mount Carmel coach Jordan Lynch said. “We knew exactly what we had. We were fortunate to have [Dowling] last year who was an absolute stud and a great leader and Jack learned a lot from him.”
Mount Carmel led 36-19 after Darrion Dupree’s nine-yard touchdown run with 9:48 to play.
East St. Louis quarterback Robert “Pops” Battle scored on a one-yard run with 5:05 left and then connected with Purdue recruit Jesse Watson on a 28-yard TD to pull the Flyers within three points with 3:56 to play.
The Caravan picked up enough first downs on their final drive to run out the clock.
“Starting off strong was a really good thing for us but we have to finish stronger than we did,” Elliott said.
The matchup between the defending Class 7A and 6A state champions took nearly three and a half hours due to penalties. The Flyers had 19 penalties for 167 yards.
Dupree, a Wisconsin recruit, had 20 carries for 70 yards and two touchdowns. He caught six passes for 52 yards.
“The game was fun at first and then it started getting stressful,” Dupree said. “I don’t like that. We can’t let that happen anymore.”
Maurice Densmore finds a way into the end zone and Mount Carmel leads East St. Louis 14-7 with 6:18 left in the first half. pic.twitter.com/luvqm1zFl7
— Michael O'Brien (@michaelsobrien) August 27, 2023
East St. Louis trailed 21-7 at halftime. Starting running back TaRyan Martin didn’t play in the first half. His introduction to the game opened up the Flyers’ offense. He had seven carries for 46 yards and a touchdown.
“The [East St. Louis] coaches did a good job making adjustments,” Lynch said. “And we have to limit the penalties. I thought that was an absolute nightmare.”
Maine South transfer Maurice Densmore was a key for the Caravan. He had six carries for 32 yards and a touchdown and three catches for 31 yards. Densmore and Lynch both came up clutch on crucial third and fourth down plays.
“[Densmore] has great hands and he’s tough and physical running the ball,” Lynch said. “And he blocks on the perimeter.”
Battle was 8 of 16 passing for 156 yards. He threw touchdown passes of 69 and 28 yards and rushed for two scores.
“This was just one game, even though it was East St. Louis,” Elliott said. “We have two big goals, 9-0 and 14-0. This is just a start. They were aggressive but we were more physical and that’s why we won the game.”
