East St. Louis quarterback Reece Shanklin threw five touchdown passes in the Flyers’ IHSA playoff win over Burbank Reavis, Friday night. (Photo: Terrance Williams)
| High School Football | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #36 Burbank Reavis (5-5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| #4 East St. Louis (9-1) | 21 | 27 | 13 | 8 | 69 |
EAST ST. LOUIS, IL — Quarterback Reece Shanklin threw for 313 yards and five touchdown passes to lead No. 1 ranked and No. 4 seeded East St. Louis to a 69-0 win over Reavis High School of Burbank (IL), in an IHSA Class 7A playoff football game, Friday night at Clyde C. Jordan Stadium.
The Flyers, who are now 9-1 on the season, scored early and often, on their way to building a 48-0 halftime lead, which meant there was a running clock for the entire second half.
East St. Louis will play Chicago St. Patrick in the second round, next weekend. 20th-seeded St. Patrick pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the weekend, when it defeated No. 13-seed Chicago Westinghouse 49-13 on Friday.
Official date and gametime will be announced by the IHSA on Monday, but the state website already says the game will be next Saturay, November 7, which makes the most sense because of the long travel from Chicago to East St. Louis.
Senior RB/WR Ronnie Gomiller scored three touchdowns in the East St. Louis Flyers win over Burbank Reavis, Friday night. (Photo: Terrance Williams)
Shanklin, who completed 11 of the 13 passes he threw and also rushed for 73 yards, was the offensive star of the night, teammate Ronnie Gomiller had a big time performance as well, with 154 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns of his own.
Gomiller opened the scoring with a 60-yard touchdown run with 9:47 remaining in the first quarter, giving East St. Louis a 7-0 lead. Shanklin added a 31-yard touchdown run on the next possession to make it 14-0.
Following a Reavis punt, Shanklin connected with Gomiller for a 74-yard touchdown, extending the lead to 21-0 by the end of the first quarter.
Shanklin threw a 68-yard touchdown pass to Laron Baker Jr., early in the second quarter to make it 28-0. After the Flyers blocked a punt and recovered at the Rams’ 9-yard line, Shanklin found Emurion Jackson for a touchdown on the next play. East St. Louis led 35-0 with 9:39 left in the half.
A 10-yard touchdown pass from Shanklin to Jahmori Ware pushed the lead to 42-0. Freshman Tyrell Jackson then scored on a 9-yard run, and a missed conversion left the Flyers ahead 48-0 at halftime.
The East St. Louis Flyers are 9-1 and ranked No. 1 in the state of Illinois. (Photo: Terrance Williams)
Gomiller scored his third touchdown on a 20-yard run in the third quarter to make it 55-0. Jeremiah Bean added another 20-yard touchdown run, with a missed conversion leaving the score at 61-0.
Shanklin scored on a 10-yard run in the fourth quarter, and the Flyers added a two-point conversion to complete the scoring.
The winner of the East St. Louis-St. Patrick game will play the winner of No. 5 Mount Prospect-No. 12 Rockford Guilford game, which is also expected to be played next Saturday. The quarterfinal contest will be on November 14 at a local yet to be determined.
Next Friday’s game at Naperville North is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff and the game will be streamed live on Youtube.
SCORING SUMMARY
| Qtr | Time | Scoring Play | Reavis | ESL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 9:47 | ESL – TOUCHDOWN – Ronnie Gomiller 60 yard run (PAT good) | 0 | 7 |
| 1st | 06:43 | ESL – TOUCHDOWN – Reese Shanklin 30 yard run (PAT good) | 0 | 14 |
| 1st | 02:22 | ESL – TOUCHDOWN – Ronnie Gomiller 74 yard pass from Reece Shanklin (PAT good) | 0 | 21 |
| 2nd | 10:52 | ESL – TOUCHDOWN – Laron Baker, Jr. 68 yard pass from Reece Shanklin (PAT good) | 0 | 28 |
| 2nd | 08:40 | ESL – TOUCHDOWN – E’murion Jackson 9 yard pass from Reece Shanklin (PAT good) | 0 | 35 |
| 2nd | 06:02 | ESL – TOUCHDOWN – Jahmori Ware 10 yard pass from Reece Shanklin (PAT good) | 0 | 42 |
| 2nd | 03:50 | ESL – TOUCHDOWN – Tyrell Jackson 9 yard run (PAT no good) | 0 | 48 |
| 3rd | 7:46 | ESL – TOUCHDOWN – Ronnie Gomiller 20 yard run (PAT good) | 0 | 55 |
| 3rd | 2:21 | ESL – TOUCHDOWN – Jeremiah Bean 20 yard run (PAT no good) | 0 | 61 |
| 4th | 10:59 | ESL – TOUCHDOWN – Reese Shanklin 10 yard run (2-pt conversion good) | 0 | 69 |
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 | L, 35-28 OT (1-1) |
| September 4, 2026 (Friday) | 7:30 pm | Home | Gainesville (GA) | Clyde C. Jordan Stadium | W, 24-21 (2-1) |
| September 11, 2026 (Friday) | 7 pm | Home | O’Fallon* | Clyde C. Jordan Stadium | W, 64-6 (3-1) |
| September 18, 2026 (Friday) | 7 pm | Home | Belleville East* | Clyde C. Jordan Stadium | W, 61-0 (4-1) |
| September 25, 2026 (Friday) | 7 pm | Away | Edwardsville* | Edwardsville, IL | W, 35-0 (5-1) |
| October 2, 2026 (Friday) | 7 pm | Away | Belleville West* | Belleville, IL | W, 70-0 (6-1) |
| October 9, 2026 (Friday) | 7 pm | Home | Alton* | Clyde C. Jordan Stadium | W, 54-0 (7-1) |
| October 16, 2026 (Friday) | 7 pm | Away | Naperville North | Naperville, IL | W, 35-8 (8-1) |
| October 30, 2026 (Friday) | 7 pm | Home | #36 Burbank Reavis | Clyde C. Jordan Stadium | W, 69-0 (9-1) |
| November 7, 2026 (Saturday) | TBA | Home | #20 Chicago St. Patrick | Clyde C. Jordan Stadium |
* – denotes Southwestern Conference game