WOOD RIVER - It was a big Friday night at Memorial Stadium on the campus of East Alton-Wood River Community High School, and not just because it was the first home game of the high school football season.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
The Oilers hosted the Explorers of Marquette Catholic, as both teams set out in search of their first win of 2024 after both teams lost to Clinton and Civic Memorial in the opening two weeks of the season. In front of a packed house, the Oilers defended their home turf with a big 24-7 victory.
Before the opening kickoff, the American flag and game ball was delivered by skydivers, floating down to the field at Memorial Stadium as part of a slew of festivities for EAWR’s Military Appreciation Night. Veterans, military, and first responders were given free admission for Friday’s game.
The Riverbend Patriots were saluted for their hard work in securing the military vehicles, the helicopter flyover, and skydivers. Pruitt Mechanical was given thanks for sponsoring the event from a financial perspective and the Illinois Army National Guard was also issued a thank you for their participation by the East Alton-Wood River athletic department. A special thank you to Bob Crippen for use of military vehicles and JR and Brian Stack who brought in other military vehicles.
There was a “fallen soldier demonstration” featuring military vehicles circling the track, a moment honoring veterans in attendance, a 21-gun salute by ARC Pyrotechnic's, and the Alton Post 1308 VFW ritual team presented colors and played “Taps” prior to the usual 7 p.m. kickoff. The flyover was done by Air Evac 156.
“Yeah that was great,” said Marquette head coach Eric Dickerson. “We got out and saw the skydive team come in, that was spectacular to see.”
The Oilers came out of the tunnel hot, donning military green uniforms, and scored on their first drive behind the wheels of senior running back Travis Skinner. Skinner marched EAWR down the field, and a short pass from Isaiah Smith found wideout Stephan Mosley for the points. A two-point conversion was successful thanks to a short run from Skinner and the hosts had an 8-0 first quarter lead.
Marquette struggled to create offense in the first quarter, but as time ticked down in the first half, the Explorers found the scoreboard. QB Jack Rea found a few quick passes on the drive for good yardage, and followed up his work with his arm with a short run to his left for the score.
An extra point made it 8-7 EAWR heading into halftime. Despite some mistakes on offense early, Marquette was hanging with a hyped-up Oiler team who wanted a win for the big crowd at Memorial Stadium.
Again in the third quarter it was Travis Skinner making the difference for the Oilers on the ground, who stuck with a run-heavy attack all game. That strategy paid dividends. Not only were they quite successful moving the ball with Skinner and also run-first quarterback Alex Johnson, but EAWR drives were taking minutes off the clock.
Skinner once again set up an Oiler touchdown that he didn’t score in the third quarter, this time it was linebacker/fullback and captain Drake Champlin on the touchdown for the hosts. Alex Johnson took the QB keeper for the two-point conversion to give the hosts a two-score 16-7 lead.
When it came time for Marquette to reply, Jack Rea threw an untimely interception, though not his fault. The pass bounced off the intended Explorer and into the grateful arms of Oiler safety La’twon Everage.
“Third quarter we came out and fought,” said Eric Dickerson. “But (EAWR) has a couple big plays that help them out, and we just had a hard time answering those tonight.”
All the momentum was with the “Big O”. The EAWR sideline, and those who packed the grandstands behind it, were fired up.
The Oilers stuck with their “if ain’t broke, don’t fix it” strategy of giving the ball to Travis Skinner on the ensuing drive, and he burst through the Marquette defense and came just short of the goal line. This time his number was called to break through the pile, and Skinner found paydirt.
A Drake Champlin power run for the conversion made it 24-7 at the end of the third quarter.
“Last week we ran the ball a ton, right up the middle,” said Garry Herron after the game. “We knew (Marquette) would key on that, so we were trying this week to get outside a bit. Use our speed, use the looseness, and that’s what we did.”
“Well done by our line, and we had to make some adjustments, play a little different than we normally do. They stepped up, and Travis (Skinner), he was outstanding tonight.”
Marquette’s fourth-quarter efforts stalled, and they were running out of time. EAWR spent the final frame playing keep away, and milking every second of play clock each play until the final whistle.
It’s the first Oilers win at Memorial Stadium in nearly two years. Their last was on September 30, 2022, a 22-13 win over Columbia. It’s a big win for head coach Garry Herron and the EAWR program, on a night with a packed house to celebrate.
“It’s awesome,” Herron said postgame, with celebrations going on in the stands and on the field. “It’s great for the community, great for the school, great for our kids. This is something we really needed.”
The Oilers will look to build off Friday’s momentum when they host Salem next Friday. On the other sideline, Eric Dickerson was proud of his team’s fight all evening as the team continues to grow.
“It’s a long season, right?” Dickerson said postgame. “We’ve definitely had some ups and downs. I thought we fought very hard in that first half, in the second half we just kind of stalled. It fell apart on us real quick.”
“The boys are fighting, the effort’s there, it’s nothing that they’re not doing. We just have to figure it out. And us coaches have to look at it. How can we get better? How can we put these guys in a position to win?”
Marquette returns to Public School Stadium in Alton next Friday to take on the Bulldogs from Harrisburg.
More like this:
