General | August 25, 2018 | 23:05
DETROIT — East St. Louis had a 10-hour journey by bus Friday.
Detroit Martin Luther King made sure that ride home on Sunday seems a little bit longer.
Senior quarterback Dequan Finn turned the showdown into a track meet and the Crusaders sent the Flyers home packing with a 52-38 road defeat Saturday night in Game 7 of the 14th annual Xenith Prep Kickoff Classic at Wayne State University.
Finn, named the Game MOP, finished with 277 rushing yards on 16 carries and three rushing touchdowns and also finished 9-for-22 passing for 164 yards and three more touchdowns for Detroit King.
"We saw their defensive ends were going to the running backs, so I saw the gaps and was able to run it," said Finn. "Our offensive line did a great job getting us room and we were able to move the ball."
King (1-0) rushed for 447 yards on the ground and collected 611 total yards of offense.
"We did that against a great team with a lot of history," smiled King coach Tyronne Spencer. "I know if we clean some things up we can be very good."
"The season is a journey and we know we play two great opponents the first two weeks of the season," added Spencer, noting that Week 2 is against defending state champion Muskegon. "But we know we can play with these teams."
Holding a slim 26-18 lead at the half, Detroit King (1-0) took control with three touchdowns and a 20-0 run in the third quarter to build a 46-18 advantage.
Finn scored on touchdown sprints of 80 and 63 yards only 3:11 apart and Nikoe James added a 29-yard touchdown run with 2:13 to go in the third quarter to build the Crusaders' lead up to 28 points.
East St. Louis, the winningest program in Illinois state history, clawed back to within striking range when Demonta Witherspoon scored on runs of 4 and 6 yards, the latter with 7:54 remaining that close the gap down to 46-32.
That was as close as East St. Louis would get.
"We did a nice job battling back, but you can't make the amount of mistakes we made against a team like King and expect to win," said East St. Louis coach Darren Sunkett. "I think we need to get better on the ends and limit the long runs. I know if we can do that we'll be fine. King is a very good football team. I wouldn't say it was necessarily their speed. It was us not executing on defense to stop them from making the big plays."
Dominick Polidore-Hannah ended the suspense on the next play when he dashed 80 yards on the kickoff to push the lead back up to 52-32.
Witherspoon, who finished with 17 carries for 100 yards, scored his third touchdown on a 14-yard scamper. Senior quarterback Tyler Macon, who earned his team MOP award, finished 14-for-23 passing for 188 yards with a pair of interceptions while adding 87 rushing yards on 15 carries. Steven Swingler chipped in 80 yards on nine carries for the Flyers.
The two teams traded leads in the first half.
Finn (8-yard TD run), Rashawn Williams (17-yard catch from Finn) and Polidore-Hannah (two touchdown catches of 8 and 17-yards from Finn) accounted for King's first-half scores.
Macon scored on runs of 3, 6 and 1 yards in the first half for East St. Louis.
James had 102 yards on nine carries and Shondell Hardnett had 64 yards on 11 rushes. Lemuel Watley recorded two interceptions while Marvin Grant recovered a fumble and a sack for Detroit King.
BOX SCORE
DETROIT KING 52
EAST ST. LOUIS(Ill.) 38
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
F |
| DK |
6 |
20 |
20 |
6 |
52 |
| ESL |
6 |
12 |
0 |
20 |
38 |
SCORING DRIVES
1st Quarter
DK — Dequan Finn 8-yard touchdown run (9:16), kick failed, 6-0
ESL— Tyler Macon 3-yard touchdown run (6:21), kick failed, 6-6
2nd Quarter
ESL — Macon 6-yard touchdown run (10:03), kick failed, 12-6
DK — Finn to Rashawn Williams 17-yard pass (6:49), Darrell Wyatt PAT, 13-12
ESL — Macon 1-yard touchdown run (3:04), pass failed, 18-13
DK — Finn to Dominick Polidore-Hannah (1:24), pass failed, 19-18
DK— Finn to Polidore-Hannah 17-yard touchdown pass (0:03), Darrell Wyatt PAT 26-18
3rd Quarter
DK — Finn 80-yard touchdown run (9:40), run failed
DK — Finn 63-yard touchdown run (6:29), Wyatt PAT, 39-18
DK — Nikoe James 29-yard touchdown run (2:13), Wyatt PAT, 46-18
4th Quarter
ESL — Demonta Witherspoon 4-yard (10:40), Witherspoon 2-point conversion run, 26-46
ESL— Witherspoon 6-yard touchdown run (7:54), run failed, 32-46
DK — Polidore-Hannah 80-yard kickoff return (7:42), kick failed, 52-32
ESL — Witherspoon 14-yard touchdown (6:36), run failed, 52-38
RECORDS — Detroit King 1-0; East St. Louis (Ill.) 0-1
