Illinois High School Football: Fenwick upsets East St. Louis for 6A title

The Fenwick Friars just completed a feat many thought might not be possible at the beginning of this Illinois high school football season: Beating national power East St. Louis.

A Jamen Williams’ touchdown plunge with just over two minutes left in the game sealed the deal as Fenwick stunned the state’s No. 2 East St. Louis, 38-28, at Illinois State on Tuesday night. With the victory, the Friars secured winning their second state championship in program history.

For the Flyers, what was a season entered with high expectations, ended with a surprising loss in the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) state championships.

Fenwick went into halftime leading East St. Louis, 14-13, but was going to need a strong second half offensively in order to pull off the stunner.

Williams midway through the second quarter connected on a 15-yard touchdown pass to Raphiel Stewart to put the Friars ahead, 21-13.

Just before the end of the third quarter, 2027 four-star running back Myson Cook-Johnson answered the bell on a scoring run, paired with a converted 2-point conversion, to tie things up at 21-all.

It was mere seconds later that running back Jake Thies broke a 74-yard touchdown run to put Fenwick ahead 28-21. There would be one more tie in the game when East St. Louis’ Ahmad Coleman scored to knot the contest back up at 28-28.

After a field goal gave the Friars a 31-28 lead, Thies picked off a pass on the following East St. Louis possession to give Fenwick the ball right back. Williams would score the game-sealing touchdown with just over two minutes left to give the Friars a double-digit lead and eventually, the stunning win in the process.

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