BELLEVILLE • A three-touchdown flurry in the final three minutes of the second quarter was more than enough to help host Belleville East beat Alton 42-14 in a Southwestern Conference game on Friday.
The Lancers held a slim 7-6 lead before the surge. The scoring onslaught started with 2 minutes and 53 seconds left in the first half.
Moses Holman scored on a 3-yard run to stretch the lead to 13-6. Kicker Matt Sotiropoulos added the extra point.
On the touchdown, a couple of Alton defenders unceremoniously tossed Holman from the end zone. It led to a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and East (3-1 overall, 2-0 conference) kicked off from midfield.
Instead of just blasting it into the end zone, the Lancers' used a squib quick and it was recovered by Belleville East's Courtland Jackson at the Alton 25-yard line. Several plays later, senior quarterback Drew Millas scored on a sneak. The sequence took 30 seconds.
East held Alton (0-4, 0-2) on its next possession and used its timeouts to preserve as much of the clock as possible.
A big punt return by Quantavius Alexander got the ball to Alton's 25, but a penalty backed it up to the 40. Still, the Lancers scored quickly when Millas connected with Isaiah King for a 28-yard score to give East a 28-6 halftime lead.
“I have to credit the coaches,” Millas said. “After our first loss, they made a lot of adjustments. We're still not executing like we want to, but we're getting big plays when we need them. Even after we got those last two wins the coaches are always making adjustments. We've got two big conference wins. Now, we have Edwardsville. They are a great team and we will need to play our best, but we'll be ready."
The loss kept first-year Alton coach Eric Dickerson winless. East's first-year coach Kris Stephens is 3-1 and owns two big conference victories.
The offensive outburst by the Lancers wasn't unexpected as they came into the game averaging 34.5 points per contest while the Alton defense was surrendering 42 points a game.
Alton showed some life in the second half. It picked up a safety when a punt was snapped out of the end zone and got within two touchdowns when Asa Collins scored his second touchdown of the game on a 45-yard burst up the middle.
Collins also scored on a 7-yard run midway through the second quarter.
The Redbirds rolled up more than 250 yards on the ground.
East added an insurance touchdown four minutes into the fourth quarter when Millas connected with King on a 7-yard touchdown pass.
“We've been working together pretty good,” King said. “It showed tonight.”
Late in the game there was a 22-minute delay to attend to injured Alton offensive lineman Tahj Womack. The 5-foot-10, 265-pound senior was carted off the field and taken by ambulance to an nearby hospital. His condition was unknown.
Alton officials said Womack appeared to be OK. He never lost consciousness and was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
