Fenwick Stuns East Side

NORMAL - It was a cold night for state championship football on Tuesday evening at Hancock Stadium on the campus of Illinois State University. Nonetheless, the Fenwick Friars got hot early and managed to make some monumental plays when they needed them to knock off the #1-ranked team in the state, East St. Louis, 38-28 and win their second ever IHSA State Championship in Football (first in 6A).

For months the chatter has been all about the team that has ruled the roost in 6A Football in Illinois: the East St. Louis Flyers. They finished the regular season at 6-3 with those 3 losses coming to out-of-state, nationally-ranked opponents from Florida, Nevada and New Jersey. All eyes have been on the Flyers as they have rolled their first four playoff opponents. They knocked off Plainfield East 63-7, #1-seeded Chatham Glenwood 53-14, Chicago Simeon 49-0 and Burbank St. Laurence 50-7 to earn their trip to the IHSA 6A State Championship. The team awaiting them on the other side of the bracket was the Fenwick Friars out of Oak Park. Fenwick, loaded with talent and hungry for a state title, possessed something the Flyers did not: they were overlooked. Many will call this game a massive upset, but let's look a little deeper. Fenwick’s three losses in the regular season came to 4A state champs Montini Catholic 31-29 in a game many say the Friars had won and lost it right at the end, a 35-28 loss to 8A #1-ranked Chicago Mount Carmel and a 38-24 loss to 8A Mundelein Carmel. Most of the games on the schedule for Fenwick were against 8A opponents. On their way to the championship, they knocked off Chicago Kennedy 42-6, Rolling Meadows 45-7, Burlington Central 49-21 and #1-seeded Nazareth Academy 28-27 in overtime.

Troubles started early in the title tilt for the Flyers. Fenwick’s 3-4 defensive formation allowed their outside linebackers to get to Flyers’ halfback Myson Cook-Johnson quickly and efficiently on the early drives as he only gained two total yards on the first two plays, putting East Side in a position to force a pass on third down. A pass intended for Cortez Rupert was broken up by Fenwick’s Josh Morgan right at the line to gain to force a fourth down and a punt from the Flyers. Things went from bad to worse on the ensuing punt as the snap was botched and the Friars gained possession of the ball at the Flyers’ 4-yard line. Friar halfback Jake Thies punched it in on the first play of the drive to give Fenwick the first lead of the game. The kick was good to make it 7-0 in favor of the Friars. On the second drive down the field for East St. Louis, the Flyers started to have some success with their run game as they worked the ball down to the Fenwick 49-yard line before getting set back with a 5-yard penalty. After having a string of successful running plays, the Flyers went to the air for some reason. Quarterback Reece Shanklin couldn’t connect with any of his receivers on three straight plays, forcing the Flyers to punt yet again. Another botched snap looked to be disastrous for East Side, but somehow their punter managed to weave away from traffic and get a kick off just in the nick of time. Fenwick couldn’t do anything with the ball on their next possession as they quickly went three-and-out and punted the ball back to the Flyers with 6:50 remaining in the first quarter. East St. Louis’s offense came alive on their third drive of the game as a mix of Johnson-Cook runs and short passes pushed them into the redzone. A short 1-yard run from Johnson-Cook put the Flyers in the endzone and on the scoreboard. The extra point missed as Fenwick kept the lead, 7-6 with 4:09 remaining in the quarter. However, another three-and-out from the Friars gave the ball right back to East St. Louis around their 15-yard line. The Flyers worked methodically, getting the ball to their own 45-yard line before halfback Amir Tillman broke free for a 55-yard touchdown to give the Flyers their first and only lead of the day. The kick was good to make it 13-7 in favor of East Side. That would remain the score at the end of the first quarter.

Cody Thies went back to work for the Friars to start the second quarter as he ripped off a 22-yard run on the first play of the period. A quarterback keeper from Fenwick’s Jamen Williams worked the ball inside the East St. Louis 30-yard line and got the Friars closer to the red zone. The Flyers would pick off Williams’ pass on the following play however as East regained possession with 9:53 left in the first half. East St. Louis used a quick drive of a handful of big running plays to work their way to the Fenwick 17-yard line and back into the red zone. After a penalty pushed them back 5 yards, East St. Louis faced a 4th & 17 from the Fenwick 22-yard line. The Flyers went for it all on fourth down as they threw a pass to the back right corner of the endzone to Rupert, but it was broken up by Friar cornerback Odin Ferjak. Fenwick quickly went three-and-out before punting the ball back to East St. Louis. The Flyers worked their way down to the Fenwick 34-yard line but stalled and took a 5-yard penalty on fourth down to make it 4th & 8 yards to go from the 39-yard line. East Side looked to the air again, but once again Odin Ferjak was there for the Friars as he picked off the pass from Shanklin and returned it back to Flyer territory with 1:57 remaining in the first half. On the first play of the drive, Williams connected with Cameron Garrett for a 37-yard touchdown. The kick after was good to give the Friars the lead back at 14-13. East worked the ball back down to the red zone with just 10 seconds left in the half but Fenwick was able to contain Shanklin on a quarterback run that ended up being the last play of the period. At the halftime break, Fenwick held onto the 14-13 lead.

After electing to punt the ball away to start the game, the Friars received to start the second half. They went to work quickly as Thies took a screen pass 33 yards to the 51-yard line on 1st & 10. Roughing the passer and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties were tacked on and set the Fenwick offense up at the Flyers’ 27-yard line. Two more touches from Thies pushed the Friars into the red zone as they were set up with a 1st & 10 from the 15-yard line. On 2nd & 10 Williams connected with senior receiver Raphiel Stewart in the end zone for the touchdown to widen the Fenwick lead. The point after would make it 21-13 with 8:40 remaining in the third quarter. A couple of big Johnson-Cook runs and a 16-yard pickup through the air to senior Armaad Sharp put the Flyers back in business at midfield with 6:35 remaining. A 19-yard pass to junior Ronnie Gomiller and a handful of Johnson-Cook runs helped the Flyers work the ball back into the red zone. After a false start penalty and methodical drive that burned over six minutes off of the clock, East St. Louis would face a 4th & 11 from the Friars’ 20-yard line. Shanklin connected with junior Laron Baker Jr. to work the ball to the Fenwick 4-yard line. On 2nd & goal, Johnson-Cook punched it into the endzone to make it a 21-19 game. The Flyers found Gomiller in the back of the endzone on the 2-point conversion to even the score at 21-21 with 1:43 remaining in the third. Fenwick wasted no time with their possession as Thies took a handoff from their own 26-yard line to the house for a 74-yard touchdown that helped the Friars regain the lead. The extra point after was good to make it 28-21. East St. Louis would work quickly to the Friars’ 34-yard line but the third quarter would end with Fenwick on top, 28-21.

On 4th & 1 from the Fenwick 25-yard line, Shanklin connected with Sharp to move the ball into the red zone at the 15. On 3rd & 4, junior halfback Ahmad Coleman took it to the house with 9:13 remaining in the game. The extra point was good to once again even the score at 28-28. With 7:38 remaining in the game, Williams connected with Jimmy Watts for 38 yards to move into Flyer territory at the 26-yard line. Williams used two short runs of his own to gain a first down and work his way into the red zone. The drive would stall out there, but Fenwick kicker Noah Sur put one through the uprights on 4th down to give Fenwick a 31-28 lead with only 2:45 remaining in the game. East St. Louis set up at the Friars’ 32-yard line to start what they hoped to be a game-winning drive. On the first play of the drive, Shanklin threw down field but was picked off by who else than Thies who returned the interception back to the Flyers’ 3-yard line. On 1st & goal Williams took it into his own hands for the quarterback sneak. His offensive line pushed him past the goal line for the touchdown. The kick after was good to give the Friars the 38-28 lead with 2:22 to go. The Flyers moved the ball down to midfield but couldn’t get anything going in the final two minutes of the game. Fenwick senior defensive end Nick Walzer tackled Shanklin from behind in what ended up being the last play of the game. The Fenwick Friars walked away with a stunning 38-28 victory over the Flyers and the 6A IHSA state title.

“It’s tough to even process right now,” said Fenwick head coach Matt Battaglia. “The biggest thing was just keeping this team together. It’s a special team and I’m just really excited that we get to end it with a celebration. When you incorporate everything that makes a team, this is the best team in the state of Illinois.”

“We knew everyone picked them (East St. Louis) to win,” said senior Jake Thies. “But that’s nothing new for us. It’s happened to us multiple times this year. But we knew they’re human just like us. We knew we could take them and today we got it done.”

Fenwick finished the season at 11-3 and added their first ever 6A football state trophy to the case. East St. Louis finished the year at 9-4.