Belleville East pulls off win against Pekin in high school football overtime thriller

Belleville East’s Jaedon Beamon scored on a fourth down 1-yard run and the Lancers defense stopped Pekin on its next possession to secure a thrilling 28-21 overtime victory on Charlie Woodford Field Friday night.

East (2-0) overcame deficits of 14-7 and 21-14 in regulation before winning in the extra session. It was an early season gut-check win that tested the Lancers’ mettle, their coach said.

“We’ve got a saying here at Belleville East in that we always find a way to make them interesting,” East coach Michael Harrison said. “I think it gives you a little bit of tell into the state our program. We know how to compete in tough ballgames now.”

Pekin (1-1) got the board first on a Landon Erxleben 1-yard, first-quarter run. East responded six minutes into the second quarter thanks to a 13-yard Killian Raich to James Johnson, Jr. touchdown pass. The extra point put the Lancers in the lead, 7-6.

In the final minute of the first half, Pekin retook the lead on Brogan Benassi’s 20-tard touchdown strike to Peyton Hess, making it 14-7 at the half.

It was a forgettable opening half for the Lancers littered with penalties, dropped passes, sloppy special teams play, and a pair of lost fumbles.

“The first half we were just going through the motions,” Beamon said.

The teams swapped touchdowns late in the third quarter, the Lancers scoring when quarterback Kingston Jones connected with Cordeon Smith on a 3-yard quick pass for a touchdown with five minutes left.

They traded scores again in the fourth when Jones and Johnson hooked up for a dazzling 45-yard catch and run that knotted things up at 21-21 with with 9:56 left in regulation.

Harrison said he told his team at halftime to keep things simple and rely on senior leadership to pull out a win.

“We’re going to run the ball behind our seniors,’” Harrison said he told them. “Once we were able to put a couple of those plays together and that got going, it allowed us to roll in the other areas too.”

East cashed in on its first drive of overtime as Beamon punched it in from a yard out on fourth and goal to make it 28-21.

“Coach called and time out and put the big dogs in (on the offensive line) and I ran up his back and I knew it was in. I ran up his back and got the touchdown,” Beamon said. “It felt good, I’m not going to lie.”

On it’s overtime possession, Pekin got to East 3-yard line, but Benassi’s fourth-down pass on the left side of the endzone was broken up by the Lancers’ secondary.

“It’s testament to the guys tonight that they didn’t throw in the towel after the first half, they didn’t cash it in and they really buckled down,” Harrison said.

In other area games Friday:

Althoff 61, Decatur St. Teresa 0

Fort Zumwalt West 49, Belleville West 19

Troy Buchanan 55, O’Fallon 20

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