Our High School Team of the Week and Their RPO Offense
Oct 05, 2023 12:35 pm
Coach ,
Our CoachesClinic HS Team of the Week is defending 6A Illinois state champion East St. Louis HS. After two close, tough losses to perennial power houses Mount Carmel (IL 7A Defending State Champ), and St. Frances (#1 ranked team in Maryland), the Flyers have rattled off three straight dominating wins including a 54-13 route over conference rival O’Fallon.
The Flyers are ranked #2 in Ilinois behind Mount Carmel and #1 in 6A. They have outscored their opponents 224-99 and averaged 48.3 points per game over their last three wins.
Head Coach Darren Sunkett has an RPO heavy offense and it’s enabled him to lead the Flyers to two state championships in the past three seasons (not including the COVID year of 2020).
The top-ranked team in Class 6A, East St. Louis is now 3-2, including 2-0 in the SWC.
Coach Sunkett presented at the first Illinois High School Football Coaches Virtual Clinic and did an excellent job detailing the RPOs which make their offense go.
The Flyers are a no-huddle team with the philosophy of keeping the defense as “vanilla” as possible. He explains how they approach it in this video.
One of their favorite RPOs is the “Pop” which complements their Power Read. The job is made easy for the receiver because the action of the run gets the linebacker to sit. It opens up a void for the throw. He illustrates Pop and a complement “Spot” in this video.
With a talent laden team, the Flyers expect to keep their momentum rolling through the second half of the season and into the playoffs where they will have the opportunity to defend their 6A title.
Good luck to the Flyers and everyone this weekend!
Always be growing!
Coach Grabowski