BELLEVILLE - Justin Spears caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Armon Vinson with 29 seconds left to give Belleville East a narrow 24-21 win over Collinsville in the season football opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at Charles Woodford Field in Belleville.
The game was initially scheduled for Friday night but was moved to Saturday morning because of the heat wave that had struck the St. Louis area this week. The game was further delayed because of heavy thunderstorms that pushed through the area, breaking the heat wave, but leaving behind humid conditions for the game.
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When the game started, East got the only points of the half on a 41-yard touchdown pass from Vinson to Keithen Jones and a field goal while holding the Kahoks to three first downs as the Lancers went into the locker room leading 10-0.
Collinsville came alive in the second half, starting with a one-yard plunge by Ryan McIntyre after an interception by Darius Williams and a 23-yard run by Darren Pennell, playing quarterback for the first time ever, to cut the lead to 10-7. Pennell then hit Amari Rodgers-Parrot from 21 yards out on the next possession to give Collinsville a 14-10 lead. After a fumble recovery by the Kahoks, Pennell and Rodgers-Parrot connected again, this time from 41 yards, to up the Collinsville lead to 21-10.
The Lancers came back with a nine-yard scoring run by Vinson in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 21-17, then after an interception by Michael Tongay, the Kahoks drove the field, but had a touchdown run by Pennell cancelled out because of a penalty and eventually lost the ball on downs with 1:42 left in regulation.
The Lancers then drove down the field, getting a key 51-yard reception from Jones to help set up Spears' touchdown catch from Vinson in the final minute to give East the 24-21 win.
The Lancers start the season off 1-0, while the Kahoks are 0-1 and play next week at Centralia Friday night in a 7 p.m. kickoff.
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