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EAST ST. LOUIS — Ronnie Gomiller made some new fans Friday night as he scorched another defense.

"He's a really good player," Gainesville coach Santavious Bryant said. "He's got a bright future. The kid can go. I'm happy for him and his future. We'll be rooting for him from down in Georgia."

An East ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ senior, Gomiller made a lasting impression while helping the Flyers win 24-21 over the Red Elephants, who made the trip to Illinois for the showcase football game.

East ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ (2-1), the No. 1 large school in the rankings, picked up its second win of the season over a nationally ranked opponent. 

"We needed this win bad," East ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ junior Omari Hogan said. "We came up on top and fought through adversity, and I'm proud of my guys."

The Flyers have played seven teams that have been nationally ranked in the past two seasons, including teams like IMG (Fla.), Bishop Gorman (Nevada), Chicago Mount Carmel and American Heritage (Fla.). Last week, the Flyers lost 35-28 at American Heritage.

"You play these national schedules to get better, and I felt we got better this week," Sunkett said. "This is one of those weeks where I thought we played all four quarters. Not just defense, but offense and special teams. We kept fighting and didn't get behind early."

And leading the charge was "Go Go" Gomiller. 

The receiver was all over the field at times, lined up out wide or in the slot before bouncing behind the line as a running back.

He even took a snap at quarterback. 

"I'm an athlete," Gomiller said. "I think people need to change that position to ATH."

He finished the night with five carries for 16 yards and five receptions for 149 yards and two scores. His first two touches in the first half resulted in touchdowns. 

"Coach had seen some things that their defense wasn't adjusting to, so we made adjustments and got it done to get the ball," Gomiller said. 

When Flyers quarterback Reece Shanklin went down for a play in the third quarter, Gomiller immediately slid into the backfield at quarterback.

That's why Sunkett has a plethora of packages for his gadget athlete who is verbally committed to the University of Cincinnati. 

"He's got packages — we just haven't had an opportunity to use them," Sunkett said. "But he's got a ton of packages. That's why the play call was so easy when it happened."

Hogan leads charge on defense

Gainesville (0-2) struck hard and quick with a 68-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Kharim Hughley to Doyle Morrison for a 7-0 lead. 

"We just had to clean it up," Sunkett said. "We didn't get on them too much. Just put it in the memory bank and move on."

After that 68-yard touchdown strike, East ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´' defense locked in.

Especially on third down. The Red Elephants were just 1-for-16 on third down for the night. 

And Hogan was a big part of that. The junior linebacker harassed Hughley on every dropback, never letting the Clemson recruit breathe easy.

"I feel like once we come together as a defense, nobody can stop us," Hogan said. "We're the best defense in the nation. I'm proud of my guys. We stepped up."

Hogan recorded 12 tackles and two sacks to key the aggressive Flyers defense. 

Still, Hughley finished with 164 yards through the air and 86 yards on the ground and had a hand in all three touchdowns for the Red Elephants. 

Gainesville did have a chance at the end of the game.

The Red Elephants got the ball with less than two minutes to go and drove to midfield before University of Florida commit Raheem Floyd snared an interception as time expired to close out the game.

"Just a tough one," Bryant said. "Tough losses like that, you've just got to take it on the chin and keep going. Close but not close enough. Just got to get better."

Doing it for 'Weasel'

Sunkett took a pause after the game to look at the still active tailgate scene just past the fence of the stadium.

Sunkett felt a pang of sadness as he looked over the scene, knowing that an East ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ alum wasn't there.

Myron "Weasel" Bownes, a 1971 alum and regular at the East ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ football games, recently died and his funeral was Friday morning. 

"I know he's smiling down on us," Sunkett said. "He had his funeral today, and we won this game for him."

Flyers moving up

The Flyers petitioned the Illinois High School Association earlier this week to play up in Class 7A instead of Class 6A when the playoffs start. 

"We're playing in 7A this year," Sunkett said. "Just get ready. The kids want to move up, and that's something we wanted to do."

The Flyers have competed in the Class 6A playoffs for the past six seasons, capturing three titles and competing in six state championship games during that time.

The last time the Flyers competed in 7A was 2018, and in 2016 they went 14-0 to win the Class 7A title. 

Timetable unknown for Johnson-Cook

The No. 1 player on the ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ Post-Dispatch Super 30 recruiting list, Flyers running back Myson Johnson-Cook suffered a broken collarbone in the first half of the Week 1 game against Mount Carmel in Normal.

The senior hasn't played since and was on the sidelines Friday in street clothes. 

Sunkett is unsure if they will get their Auburn commit back this year. 

"We don't know yet," Sunkett said. "It's up to how quickly his physical therapy goes, and we'll go from there."