When asked to describe the sorest spot on his battered body after last night’s season-opening 39-0 loss to East St. Louis, Ill., Hickman quarterback Doug Luetjen couldn’t settle on just one.

G.J. McCarthy photos

East St. Louis running back Nick King coasts into the end zone in the second quarter of the Flyers’ 39-0 victory over Hickman last night. King carried 11 times for 92 yards and two touchdowns to help beat the Kewpies in their season opener.

"I don’t know," Luetjen said, managing a smile as ice bags covered various parts of his body. "Is that multiple choice or what?"

It was clear after bearing the brunt of the swarming Flyers defense, whatever choices Luetjen was given, "all of the above" would have covered his answer.

Making his first varsity start in Jason Wright’s head-coaching debut, Luetjen was sacked to the new FieldTurf surface of Hickman Field eight times. Including his six rushing attempts, Luetjen netted minus-55 yards on 14 carries.

The left-handed quarterback did finish with 129 yards through the air on 12-of-24 passing, but, because of several negative-yardage plays, the Kewpies accumulated only 67 yards of total offense against the aptly named Flyers.

"They were coming fast," Luetjen said. "They were coming real fast. … They’re great athletes."

G.J. McCarthy photos

Hickman quarterback Doug Luetjen is tackled by East St. Louis linebacker Keith Liddell in the first half. Luetjen completed 12 of 24 passes for 129 yards but was held to minus-55 yards on 14 carries.

Coming off a 46-17 win last week over the fifth-ranked team in Illinois’ 8A preseason rankings, East St. Louis (2-0) wasted little time showcasing its speed and superiority. Joseph McKascall returned the opening kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown, bursting through a huge hole in the middle of the field and racing untouched to put the Flyers in front just 12 seconds into the game.

It was exactly the kind of start Hickman’s inexperienced squad was hoping to avoid.

"All Coach preached was, ‘Special teams stop the big plays and don’t let them get up 14-0,’ and that’s exactly what we did," senior receiver Byron Bundy said.

East St. Louis didn’t score again until the second quarter, but it didn’t take long for the game to get out of hand. Primarily pounding the ball on the ground with senior running backs Nick King and Tommie Liddell, the Flyers added three more touchdowns before halftime to take a 26-0 lead.

Scoring runs by King of 7 and 35 yards, respectively, were sandwiched around a 35-yard touchdown pass from Derrick Johnson to Jerrell McDaniel.

King finished with 92 yards on 11 carries, and Liddell totaled 78 yards on 13 attempts. The Flyers accumulated 183 yards on 33 carries, including a 19-yard double-reverse that McDaniel ran in for the final touchdown with 11:44 remaining in the game to invoke the 35-point continuous-clock mercy rule.

"It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that was a great football team out there," Wright said of the Flyers, who are ranked fourth by the Post-Dispatch among St. Louis-area large schools and eighth in Illinois’ 7A rankings. "They’ve got good schemes, great athletes and are well-coached. … We just got beat up front."

Receiving the opening kickoff for the third quarter, Hickman didn’t help matters by fumbling the ball away on its first two offensive plays. The Flyers took advantage of the first turnover, scoring on a leaping 20-yard reception in the corner of the end zone by Terry Hawthorne.

Johnson completed 5 of his 10 pass attempts to four receivers for 121 yards and two touchdowns. The week before, he completed 10 of 14 passes for 284 yards and four touchdowns, but Darren Sunkett appeared content to move the ball on the ground against the Kewpies.

"We’re really a balanced attack," Sunkett said. "We’ve got two good backs, and we can also throw the ball. We wanted to show we can be physical and pound the ball up front."

Although he only played on the offensive end, Luejen knows all about the physical nature of the Flyers. Despite the final score, Wright came away impressed with the poise his junior displayed in the face of a fearsome defense.

Luetjen completed six passes on a 15-play drive late in the fourth quarter that moved the ball inside the Flyers’ 10-yard line, but the Kewpies couldn’t crack the end zone. It was their first shutout loss since a 24-0 defeat to Blue Springs South in 2003.

"He grew up in a hurry tonight," Wright said of Luetjen. "The bullets were flying out there for him, and I thought he really held his composure. When he got some time, he delivered some balls. He’s a competitor. He’s not going to back down from anybody"

Wright hopes Luetjen’s teammates follow their quarterback’s lead as the Kewpies attempt to bounce back next week with a road game in Bentonville, Ark.

"It’s one ballgame. It’s not a season," Wright said. "We still have a lot of ball in front of us. We’ve still got some good kids."