Brian Cox on the 1985 team after a reunion this summer:
“How good was that football team? Well, let me put it this way. At the time, I was probably the 20th best player on that team," said Cox. “We just had some much talent. We used to joke that our second team was the second best team in the state. We had that much talent and depth. We were just so deep.”
After rolling through an undefeated regular season, East St. Louis outscored its five playoff opponents 194-19, defeating Chicago Brother Rice 46-0 in the state title contest.
“The 1985 team was the best. If I remember right, we gave up 85 points and scored like 650 all season,” legendary Coach Bob Shannon said. “Our first team hardly every played in the second half and when they did, it was only for a series or two early in the third quarter."
“We probably did some things back then that we wouldn’t be able to get away with now. In the morning, we would be out running before practice. We would time the kids in the mile then we would time them in the two mile. After that we would put the gear on and practice. We were very big on conditioning. Plus, we had a great coaching staff and the wonderful support from our student body.”
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