O’Brien: Plainfield North falls to East St. Louis in 7A title game

CHAMPAIGN — Fenwick’s court challenge didn’t just impact Plainfield North. East St. Louis was left twisting, turning to the Illinois High School Association rulebook to figure out which opponent it might face in the Class 7A state title game.

“We just read the bylaws and were quite sure the judge was gonna stick with [the IHSA’s decision],” said East St. Louis coach Darren Sunkett. “So we never really changed course.”

The Flyers beat Plainfield North 26-13 on Saturday at Memorial Stadium to win their eighth state championship.

“I think our guys did a great job of tuning the outside noise out and getting prepared,” Tigers coach Tim Kane said. “We have taken the high road. [Today] there were some calls we liked and some we didn’t like.”

East St. Louis (14-0) led 26-0 after three quarters.

“They are physical and hard to the ball and it was really difficult for us to get something going,” Plainfield North running back Tyler Hoosman said.

The Tigers (11-3) scored a on a 53-yard run by quarterback Brady Miller with 11:48 to play.

“That was a great call by the coaches,” Miller said. “[East St. Louis] all went to [Hoosman] and I had a lot of room to run.”

Miller connected with Connor Peplow for a 23-yard touchdown pass with 2:58 to play that trimmed the Flyers’ lead to 13 points.

Hoosman had 17 carries for 67 yards. Miller finished 12-for-24 for 130 yards with the touchdown pass.

This was Plainfield North’s first state title game, they pulled off a string of upsets to advance to Champaign.

“That says a lot about these young men and the steps we’ve made in this program,” Kane said.

The Tigers were a young team overall and will have several returning players next season.

“Hopefully [the playoff run] allows them to believe that anything is possible,” Kane said. “The kids coming up have seen how hard you have to work.”

East St. Louis quarterback Reyondous Estes was 5-for-7 for 120 yards and three touchdowns. He rushed seven times for 21 yards. Receiver Jeff Thomas, his target on two of the scores, caught three passes for 105 yards.

“[Thomas] was dynamic for them,” Kane said. “He was certainly a game-changer.”