Prep Football: West Proves Best

For one night in June - in the heat of the summer - Football was king and took center stage in Johnston City.

Schools from across the region gathered in the East-West All-Star football game at JCHS' Ralph Davidson Stadium, treating fans to a true showcase.

Some defensive heroics late on the West's part propelled them a 40-30 win in an ode to the Coal Bowl as the West Team proved best.

West head coach and Carterville's Dennis Drust, who has been a part of coaching staffs that for the past 10 years has played in the Southern Illinois-West Kentucky All-Star football game, said this is what this event was truly meant to be.

"The game was much more exciting, both teams were down at one point and the kids battled and congratulated each other at the end. When you lineup on the football field, everyone is out there to win and we had a great turnout, a much bigger crowd than we have had with the West Kentucky series and I think all of the coaches will agree, this was the right decision to make."

East head coach and Marion's Kerry Martin echoed many of Drusts' sentiments, adding how much fun it was to play football in June.

"It was a good night, a great crowd and a great game. You have to realize these guys are working off four days of practice. They have been off for six or seventh months. It's a remarkable the level they can play at, having so much time off. I thought the quality of play was pretty dang good."

The West Team jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead after the first quarter and led 20-12 at halftime.

The East Team then closed the gap, getting to within four, 28-24 at the end of three and enjoyed their first lead of the game when Eldorado's Braxton Roberts scored a two-yard dive off a handoff from teammate Nathan Burnett making it 30-28 with 8:49 to play in the fourth quarter.

The East Team looked to put themselves in the drivers seat as they recovered a fumble at the one-yard line with 4:38 to play in the game, but the momentum was short lived as the West Team was the recipient of a fumble recovery and later scored with 1:57 to play to retake the lead, 34-30.

As much as the game was about I-57 bragging rights, it was also about coming together and building camaraderie, which was the real winner for Drust and Martin Friday.

"It's special," Martin said. "You get to meet a lot players and get to know them. We only two South Seven schools on our side, so I don't know a lot of these kids, the kids from Carmi-White County, Hamilton County and Eldordo. There is a very high level of respect amongst coaches from southern Illinois and this is a chance for me to get to work with those coaches and their players.

"We had zero attitude problems the entire week. The kids that don't even know each other, came together, played together and I think had a great time."

Drust knows the time and effort during the season that goes into scheming and coaching against the players he had on his own sideline. He liked Friday night's version much better.

"You see everyone in different perspective," Drust said. "You coach against kids and prepare against kids from other schools and then for one week, they are all on your team. It was a lot of fun."

Johnston City head coach Dan Mings estimated Friday night's attendance at 1,000-plus and both coaches complimented those that came out and the facilities they played on.

"We were real pleased with it and I think as the game gets back to the East-West roots, I think we'll have more fans come out," Martin said. "The Johnston City High School facilities are top notch and I think they did a fantastic job putting this thing together."

Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Daily Register. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.