Alec McEachern felt the impact of his big hit, and he wasn’t alone.
When Benet’s senior strong safety immediately met Jeff Thomas on a screen pass on the first play from scrimmage, he didn’t just drop East St. Louis’ star wide receiver for a five-yard loss.
He set a tone.
“I felt the people in the stands knew it too,” McEachern said. “We weren’t just some suburban team that was here to lie down. We were here to put up a fight.”
Holding East St. Louis to its season-low point total, Benet hung in for a half before losing the Class 7A semifinal 20-0 on Saturday at Benedictine University.
The Flyers (13-0) advanced to its first state final since they won the 2008 7A title. Their opponent in their 10th trip to state overall will be first-time finalist Plainfield North next Saturday in Champaign.
A week after giving up only eight points to Rolling Meadows, the Redwings put forth another strong defensive effort.
“We showed what we truly are,” said McEachern, who also intercepted a pass. “We believe that we are the best defense in the state. We got put in some bad situations. Our defense played phenomenal.”
Three times in the first half the Redwings (10-3) turned away East St. Louis in the red zone.
Matt Kaufman dropped Flyers quarterback Reyondous Estes for an 11-yard loss on fourth down, and Brett Kerger tackled Estes for a loss for a turnover on downs in the second quarter.
Near halftime the Flyers got possession at the Benet 21-yard line after an interception. The Redwings held up again. Devin Petersen tackled Flyers running back Jarrell Anderson for a four-yard loss on fourth-and-goal.
It kept East St. Louis’ lead at 8-0 at halftime.
“That was an awesome effort by our defense,” Benet coach Pat New said. “I thought we had a chance there until the third quarter.”
Anderson, who scored on a 23-yard run for the Flyers late in the first quarter, made it 14-0 with an 8-yard touchdown with 2 minutes, 4 seconds left in the third. Thomas picked off Benet quarterback Jack Sznajder two plays later, and two plays after that Estes connected with James Knight for a 32-yard TD.
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Sznajder was 9-for-34 for 131 yards and intercepted three times for Benet, which managed 25 yards of total offense until its last drive.
“Their speed and athleticism was just killer,” Sznajder said. “They bring a lot of guys on the rush and they man up everybody else. It’s just hard to get a ball off.”
Joshua Welge is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
Star of the game: Jarrell Anderson, East St. Louis, 25 carries, 140 yards, 2 TDs.
Key performers: Benet — Jack Sznajder, 131 passing yards; Alec McEachern, 1 INT, 2 TFLs. East St. Louis — Jeff Thomas, 57 receiving yards, INT.