The spot of blood on Cory Les’ right forearm was still fresh when St. Laurence coach Pat Swanson walked over to his senior running back, wildcat quarterback and safety and wrapped him up in a hug.
While the 50-7 loss in the Class 6A semifinals against visiting East St. Louis on Nov. 22 was not what the Vikings hoped for, there was still reason for Swanson and his team to take pride in his first season at the helm.
“That hug from Coach meant the world to me,” said Les, who will play baseball at Louisville. “When you have your coach behind you, that really means a lot. Coach Swanson really cares.
“It was just Coach bringing that winning culture. Coming from (Mount) Carmel, he knew what it took and he instilled that in our guys. And it was just wanting it. You can’t teach someone how to want something. We put in the blood, sweat and tears in the offseason and we just fell a little short.”
East St. Louis (10-3) will face Fenwick in the Class 6A state final on Nov. 29 at Hancock Stadium in Normal. St. Laurence finished 8-5.
“It’s phenomenal to watch the way these kids fought,” Swanson said. “I know the score might not indicate it, but those kids fought for 48 minutes and they gave it their absolute best.
“That’s all we ask from them, right? It prepares them for life and it prepares them to be successful as adult men. We’re excited for their future and it couldn’t have gone any better in my first year.”
The Flyers began the scoring at 4:58 of the first quarter as Ahmad Coleman (eight carries, 106 yards, three TDs) scored on a 3-yard run. After a blocked punt out of the end zone by Jabarri Lofton resulted in a safety, rushing touchdowns by Myson Cook-Johnson (11 yards and 6 yards), Coleman (4 yards) and Cook Johnson (13 yards) led to a 37-0 margin at halftime.
Cook-Johnson finished with 21 carries for 170 yards while Coleman chipped in 106 yards on eight attempts.
Les (23 carries, 45 yards) provided the lone touchdown of the game for the Vikings on a 1-yard run at 4:16 of the third quarter, making the score 37-7.
Cook Johnson (5-yard run) and Coleman (68-yard run) added the final touchdowns for East St. Louis.
One of the highlights for St. Laurence was the play of junior middle linebacker Sean Rice, who finished with 18 tackles. Rice also had three receptions for 41 yards.
“Making the state semifinals means the world to me,” Rice said. “Nobody thought we’d be here and nobody thought we’d even be in the playoffs with a new coaching staff and a lot of seniors had graduated.
“It’s a testament to the seniors that we had this year that we made it this far with all the leadership we had in the room.”
Mickey Lotus and Dan Hyland had interceptions for the Vikings, while Brian Killen recovered a fumble.
“Coach Swanson, he’s awesome,” said Lotus, who will play baseball at Lewis. “We really got comfortable with him. I really wasn’t around in the summer because of baseball, but I really fit in because of how awesome Coach Swanson was and how awesome the coaching staff was.”
It’s great to see St. Laurence back among the Catholic League power houses. They proudly represented the south side and are to be congratulated.
Myson Johnson-Cook is his name.