ALTON – Friday’s rains let up just in time for football at Public School Stadium in Alton, as the Redbirds of Alton High hosted the Belleville East Lancers, with both teams looking to rebound with a Southwestern Conference win after tough losses a week prior.
The Lancers weren’t perfect, but they punished Alton for their mistakes, and ran away in the second half. The Redbirds couldn’t execute offensively in a 27-0 home defeat.
Alton won the coin toss and elected to receive the kickoff, hoping to create early and set the tone with the first drive. That drive was initially saved by a roughing the passer penalty on what would have been an interception thrown by Alton junior quarterback Riley Smith.
The Redbird offense converted a 3rd and long on a Smith pass over the middle to keep the drive going. Alton took a substantial chunk of the game off the clock with their opening drive, keeping the Belleville East defense on the field for over nine minutes.
Penalties cost the home team, and they were forced to settle for a very long 50-plus-yard field goal attempt by Dillon Cowan that was missed. Alton had nothing to show for controlling possession for nearly an entire quarter.
The missed kick gave the Lancers decent starting field position, and a team that spreads the field and can throw the ball will take advantage of those opportunities more times than not.
East moved the ball through the air and on the ground, withstanding the Redbird rush led by Alton’s Jordan Womack, and even converted a 4th and long en route to their first touchdown on their first drive. Sophomore Lancer QB Kingston Jones found Elijah Bolden on a short passing play for the score.
Alton would hand the ball right back to Belleville East with an interception on the second play of the ensuing drive. Lancer DB Cary Willis came up with the pick, but their offense stalled on fourth down and couldn’t convert the turnover into points. East head coach Michael Harrison spoke about his team’s execution following the game.
“We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times,” said Harrison. “We got behind the chains, and then we really have to press when it’s third and twelve, third and 20. Doesn’t matter who you’re playing against when you have to convert (long third downs). We just have to play a little bit better.”
Alton’s drive after the turnover on downs didn’t materialize into points, with quarterback Riley Smith spending more time evading pressure than looking upfield. Alton punted, and Belleville East couldn’t quite move fast enough to add another score before halftime.
Down just one score going into the break, Alton head coach Cody Markle thought his team was in a great position to fight for the win in the second half.
“To be this close in the game with them and competing with those guys, we felt really good coming out of halftime,” said Markle. “But when you let up big plays, it kind of takes the wind out of you.”
The Redbirds bent, but didn’t break on a Lancer drive that ended in a Grayson Parker field goal to make it a 10-0 contest. Now a two-score deficit, but Alton was still in the ballgame.
The following kickoff was muffed by a member of the Alton kickoff team, and Belleville East recovered the loose ball, and drove a short way before a Machai Henderson rushing touchdown to increase their lead to 17-0.
Ten quick points blew the game wide open for the visitors, and Alton just couldn’t formulate a response on offense. A big pass from Riley Smith for a first down gave hope, but penalties and onrushing Lancers backed up the Redbird offense and broke up any rhythm Riley Smith and running back Hassani Elliott could get going in the backfield.
Belleville was ahead, but could have been ahead by even more had they not kneecapped their offense with unnecessary penalties. Flags came on both sides of the football for both teams, largely for false starts and offsides/encroachment.
The difference Friday night was the Lancers’ ability to overcome their mistakes and put together drives. Another Machai Henderson score in the fourth quarter, and a fake extra point turned two-point conversion put East up 25-0, and put the game to bed.
It didn’t get better for Alton down the stretch. A lost fumble on a short run on their penultimate drive, and a safety on their final drive produced the 27-0 final score.
Alton’s Cody Markle believes these down games can be learning moments.
“This game is a roller coaster,” Markle explained. “For everybody, and you can be a really high ranking team even, bad things are going to happen. Great things are going to happen. It’s about staying consistent, and knowing that ‘next play’ mentality.”
“Don’t let one play define who you are and define who you are as a player or your character, and we have a lot of great characters in our program.”
Now crossing the halfway mark of the season, the Redbirds of Alton High will still be looking for their first win when they host Edwardsville next weekend. Belleville East cashes an all-important conference win and improves to 3-2.
“Any time you win in the Southwestern Conference is a good day,” said Lancer head coach Michael Harrison. “Hat’s off to Alton, they really did an outstanding job, they held the ball for (nine minutes) in the first quarter.”
“They have some good ball players… and they do a really good job of coming up with a game plan.”
Belleville East hosts O’Fallon next Saturday, where Harrison will hope to see some cleaner execution from his team.
“I talk to our guys about it all the time,” Harrison recalled. “It’s not about who we play. Last week we played East St. Louis, we didn’t execute, we came out on the bad side. Today we executed a little better. If we don’t execute, O’Fallon is going to kick our butt next week.”
