IMG Academy survives East St. Louis in overtime: Live score updates (10/25/2024)

Ty Hawkins and IMG Academy (FL) needed a wild final play to survive against East St. Louis (IL) in overtime

IMG Academy played a thriller in East St. Louis Friday night, / Photo by Tyler Hart

Two of the top teams in the nation will go head-to-head on Friday night when IMG Academy travels north to take on East St. Louis in an Illinois-Florida high school football showdown.

The 5-1 Ascenders are ranked No. 4 in the latestSBLive/SI Top 25 national high school football rankings. They enjoyed a bye last week after a 21-16 scare on the road at Venice the week before. Their only loss this year was a season-opening one-point loss on the road against then-No. 19 Corner Canyon in Utah.

The Flyers are 8-0 following a 14-7 win on the road at Edwardsville last Friday. They have only allowed one opponent to score more than two touchdowns this season and they are winning their games by an average of 33.3 points.

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FINAL: IMG ACADEMY 14, EAST ST. LOUIS 13

OVERTIME

TOUCHDOWN IMG ACADEMY! Ty Hawkins throws up a prayer to freshman Eric McFarland, who slides in and catches the ball for what proves to be the game-winning score. The Ascenders kick the extra point and walk it off in front of the East St. Louis faithful. IMG Academy wins 14-13 on that wild ending.

A pass to the end zone falls incomplete and IMG needs to score here on 4th down or the game is over. Timeout IMG.

The Ascenders try to run on back-to-back plays and now have a 3rd and goal situation with the ball at the 10.

IMG Academy has the ball now and because of the missed XP, the Ascenders can win the game here with a touchdown and a successful conversion.

TOUCHDOWN EAST. ST. LOUIS! Lyons throws his 19th touchdown pass of the year, hitting Ronnie Gomiller from 10 yards out, who has 17 TDs on the year now. The extra point is blocked and East St. Louis leads 13-7.

FOURTH QUARTER

IMG looked like it was going to try to out together a drive at the end of the fourth, but the Ascenders choose to let the clock run out and we are headed to overtime.

INTERCEPTION! Lyons goes to the air again but IMG sophomore Censere Gaylord makes a great leaping snag to give the Ascenders the ball on their own 10-yard-line.

East St. Louis is driving after Lyons connects with Crotez Rupert for a 42-yard gain. Lyons threw that ball at least 30 yards in the air. They have the ball on the IMG 44 with 4:33 to go.

The Ascenders tried to start the fourth quarter with a bang but a deep Ty Hawkins pass goes just off the fingertips of Adonis Moise. Moments later, IMG converted on a 3rd and 19 with a 34-yard pass from Hawkins.

THIRD QUARTER

TOUCHDOWN IMG ACADEMY! Tranard Roberts busts a seam and takes the ball 67 yards to the house to tie the ball game. It's 7-7 all, 4:53 Q3.

East St. Louis tries their hand at a 4th down conversion but the Flyers are stuffed on 4th and goal giving IMG the ball back on their own 6-yard line.

IMG Academy attempted a QB sneak on 4th and 1 in their own territory but were unable to get it. Turnover on downs gives the Flyers the ball on IMG's 35-yard line.

The second half is underway. East St. Louis kicked and IMG Academy has the ball on their own 26-yard line

HALFTIME: EAST ST. LOUIS 7, IMG ACADEMY 0

SECOND QUARTER

IMG Academy has 10 penalties tonight compared to just four for East St. Louis.

TOUCHDOWN EAST ST. LOUIS! An IMG punt gives the Flyers the ball back and they make it count. Kendrick Lyons tosses a 21-yard dime and senior Christopher Bennet Jr. makes an amazing acrobatic catch right at the pylon for the first score of the game. East St. Louis leads 7-0, 0:33 Q2.

East St. Louis narrowly missed a touchdown on third down before attempting a 4th and 4. The Flyers tried a pass but it was knocked down by IMG senior defensive lineman London Merritt, who will be playing for Ohio State next year. That was a 14-play, 58-yard drive for East St. Louis that took 4:52 and yielded no points.

It is still scoreless in Bradenton. So far there have been six penalties in the first half and there's still 6:52 to go until halftime. East St. Louis has the ball and the Flyers are putting together a good drive.

FIRST QUARTER

Both defenses come out of the gate strong and the first quarter ends scoreless.

PREGAME

The 2024 IMG Academy roster features 12 combined recruits who are ranked in 247sports' 2025 and 2026 classes, including linebacker Gavin Nix (Miami commit) and offensive lineman Michael Carroll (Alabama commit).

Prior to the nail-biter against Venice two weeks ago, the Ascenders had held their last four opponents to 14 points or less.

Edwardsville made things closer for East St. Louis than the Flyers would have liked, but they managed to secure their ninth consecutive Southwestern Conference title with Phillip White’s interception with 1:54 remaining.

They have won 47 of their past 48 SWC games and have held the last five opposing teams to 10 points or less.

-- Sam Brown | sam@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports

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