East St. Louis QB Reese Shanklin looks for someone to throw to in the Flyers’ season opener, Saturday night. (Photo: Zach Lynn)

NCAA Football	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
No. 2 East St. Louis (1-0)	6	0	8	28	42
No. 1 Mount Carmel (0-1)	0	7	16	0	23

NORMAL, IL — After losing the lead in a disastrous third quarter against No. 1-ranked Chicago Mount Carmel, the No. 2-ranked East St. Louis Flyers responded with a monstrous fourth quarter to pull away and earn itself a 42-23 season-opening win.

“[This win] means something,” East St. Louis head coach Darren Sunkett said. “We hear we couldn’t win. We had something to prove. We have been at state seven years in a row. Win or lose we were there.

“It is tough to win in the state of Illinois. We came out with a chip on our shoulder. We wanted to show that we could play with Mount Carmel and beat them.”

The game was played at Hancock Stadium on the campus of Illinois State University, and it featured the top two ranked teams in the state of Illinois. Both teams took turns looking like the absolute best team in the state, but it was East Side that pulled the victory out in the end.

“Losing sucks,” Mount Carmel head coach Jordan Lynch said. “We have to grow as a program. We are lazy, undisciplined all over. It is Week 1 struggles for sure. When you play a team like that that is well-coached, that travels and plays the best of the best, it is a great challenge for your program. I have great respect for Coach Sunkett.”

East St. Louis’ Elijah Hanberry (90) rushes the quarterback during Saturday’ high school football opener in Normal, Ill. (Zach Lynn)

Mount Carmel led 7-6 at halftime, after scoring late in the half on a sensational 30-yard leaping touchdown catch by Marshaun Thornton — a four-star junior recruit, with college offers from nearly every major program in the country.

East St. Louis scored its touchdown late in the first quarter, on a 16-yard catch by dual threat senior Ronnie Gomiller. Flyers’ star running back Myson Johnson-Cook, who had 12 carries for 88 yards, suffered an injury late in the first half and didn’t play in the second.

Gomiller moved to tailback and it seemed to spark the Flyers, who came right out in the third quarter and drove down the field for a score that gave them back the lead.

Quarterback Reece Shanklin, who was making his first start for East St. Louis, threw his second touchdown of the game, when he hit Laron Baker, Jr., for a 20-yard touchdown that along with a touchdown gave the Flyers back the lead at 14-7.

Mount Carmel regained control late in the third, when it forced a series of East Side mistakes, including a blocked field goal attempt, a blocked punt, and a kickoff return for a touchdown that put the Caravan up 23-14. Thornton caught another brilliant touchdown pass and, after a safety on the blocked punt, returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards for a touchdown.

East St. Louis’ Eran Owens (24) attempts to defend a pass against Chicago Mount Carmel’s Marshaun Thornton during Saturday’s high school football game in Normal, Ill. (Photo: Zach Lynn)

East Side answered back quickly though. First, senior linebacker Aiereon Bass intercepted a pass and returned it 47 yards to the Mount Carmel 14-yard line to set the Flyer offense up in terrific field position.

Gomiller scored on a next play, and along with a PAT by Austin Wilkinson, made the score 23-21.

Two plays later, East Side’s Omari Hogan — a junior linebacker — forced a fumble, which the Flyers recovered at Mount Carmel’s 29-yard line. Gomiller capped that drive off with a 6-yard score that put East Side back ahead 28-23.

“When Myson went down, it would have been easy to drop our heads,” Sunkett said. “[Ronnie Gomiller] came and said to put him in at running back. We listened to him and he came out and made some big plays for us.”

East St. Louis senior Ronnie Gomiller scored four touchdowns in the Flyers’ win over Chicago Mount Carmel, Saturday night in Normal, Ill. (Photo: Zach Lynn)

The fourth-quarter crumbling by the Caravan wasn’t finished. On its next drive, Mount Carmel went three-and-out and was forced to punt. But the punt only went eight yards and gave East Side the ball deep in Caravan territory again.

Gomiller capped that drive with a 20-yard touchdown run — his fourth score of the game — that put the Flyers ahead 35-23.

The final dagger came on Mount Carmel’s next drive, when University of Florida commit Raheem Floyd, picked off a pass and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown that put East up three scores with just over three minutes left in the game.

“Thanks to my teammates,” Gomiller, who started the game at wide receiver but finished the night with 12 carries for 88 yards, said. “There was a point in time when my head was down. They had to help me through it. I had to come out and show who I could be.”

East St. Louis’ early season gauntlet will continue, when it travels to Florida next weekend to take on national powerhouse American Heritage High School.

East Side’s first official home game will be on Saturday, September 5, against Gainesville (Ga.) High. Kickoff at Clyde. C. Jordan Stadium that evening is set for 7:30 p.m.

SCORING SUMMARY

Qtr	Time	Description	ESL	Mt. C
1st	1:30	ESL – Ronnie Gomiller 16 yd pass from Reese Shanklin (PAT no good)	6	0
2nd	1:30	Mt. Carmel – Marshaun Thornton 30 yd pass from Brady Cloherty (PAT good)	6	7
3rd	8:00	ESL – Laron Baker, Jr. 20 yd pass from Reese Shanklin (two-point conversion)	14	7
3rd	3:30	Mt. Carmel – Marshaun Thornton 36 yd pass from Brady Cloherty (PAT good)	14	14
3rd	1:50	Mt. Carmel – safety	14	16
3rd	1:45	Mt. Carmel – Marshaun Thornton 78 yd kickoff return (PAT good)	14	23
4th	10:58	ESL – Ronnie Gomiller 14 yd run (Austin Wilkinson PAT)	21	23
4th	10:12	ESL – Ronnie Gomiller 6 yd run (Austin Wilkinson PAT)	28	23
4th	3:57	ESL – Ronnie Gomiller 20 yd run (Austin Wilkinson PAT)	35	23
4th	2:56	ESL – Raheem Floyd 40 yd interception return (Austin Wilkinson PAT)	42	23

2026 EAST ST. LOUIS FLYERS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Date	Time	At	Opponent	Location	Results
August 22, 2026 (Saturday)	6 pm	Neutral	#1 Chicago Mount Carmel	Normal, IL	W, 42-23 (1-0)
August 28, 2026 (Friday)	6 pm	Neutral	American Heritage (FL)	Fort Lauderdale, FL
September 4, 2026 (Friday)	7:30 pm	Home	Gainesville (GA)	Clyde C. Jordan Stadium
September 11, 2026 (Friday)	7 pm	Home	O’Fallon*	Clyde C. Jordan Stadium
September 18, 2026 (Friday)	7 pm	Home	Belleville East*	Clyde C. Jordan Stadium
September 25, 2026 (Friday)	7 pm	Away	Edwardsville*	Edwardsville, IL
October 2, 2026 (Friday)	7 pm	Away	Belleville West*	Belleville, IL
October 9, 2026 (Friday)	7 pm	Home	Alton*	Clyde C. Jordan Stadium
October 16, 2026 (Friday)	7 pm	Away	Naperville North	Naperville, IL