EDWARDSVILLE - The Belleville West Maroons played well overall on the night despite a 48-30 loss to Edwardsville at Edwardsville, and head coach Ken Turner was happy with his team’s effort.
"We’ve played better in the last couple of years, and hopefully, we’re closing it," Turner said. "We wanted to win, and in the end, we just didn’t have enough in the end.”
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Hankins did have an outstanding game on the night, and Turner agreed he’s a very explosive player in a conference that has more than its share of them
“He’s the best player on the field, most times that we play,” Turner said of Hankins. “So, he’s going to get it done, he’s going to do what he needs to do when we get the ball to him, he’s going to make plays on defense. He’s pretty good.”
Hankins had another big game on the ground, along with his kickoff return for the touchdown, and in a league, the Southwestern Conference, that’s full of explosive players, Hankins is one of the most explosive.
“My goodness, that kid’s special,” Edwardsville head coach Kelsey Pickering said of Hankins. He’s on everyone’s radar. He was on our radar, and we didn’t contain him much at al. He’s going to continue to do great things in this conference, and we’ll see where they end up post-season wise. That’s a team I would think has postseason aspirations. He’s definitely a good one.”
Of course, it’s only the first conference game of the season, and there’s still some mighty good things ahead for the Maroons.
“We’re better than we were last year,” Turner said, “and better the year before that. So, we’re trying to build on getting better each year, each week. And so, we’re improving, and we want to win these games.”
The season overall is nearing the halfway point, and there are plenty of goals and aspirations the Maroons have as a team.
“I like our chances of making the playoffs,” Turner said, “as long as we stay healthy. But we’ve got to win big games, though.”
Belleville West, 2-2 overall, plays at 7 p.m. next Friday at East St. Louis.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
