For these two metro-east coaches, high school football is about athletes, not honors

Two of the newest members of the Illinois High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame are accustomed to winning games and pursuing championships.

And, while they like doing both, they’ll tell you neither has much to do with what has driven them for more than two decades on the sidelines.

“I think if I get anything out of it – you take the wins and losses out of it – it’s getting these guys to have the opportunity to play beyond high school football and have the opportunity to obtain degrees from universities that they attended,” said Darren Sunkett, the long-time head coach and athletic director at East St. Louis Senior High School. “To have guys come back and say ‘thank you’ and say how much you meant to them when they were playing, I think all that speaks volumes.”

Columbia’s Scott Horner very nearly echoes Sunkett in his own reaction to the honor, making it clear that both are driven by service to their athletes, not the accolades.

“It’s the same thing that I’ve told everybody that’s reached out to me,” Horner said. “It’s an honor to be able to put yourself in what many would say is an elite group of coaches but really, for me, what it means is I was just extremely fortunate to be able to coach a lot of great athletes and a lot of great kids that were super committed to our program.”

Sunkett and Horner will be will be inducted into the IHSFCA Hall of Fame on March 23, 2024, at 12 p.m. during a luncheon at the I Hotel in Champaign. Tickets go on sale to the public Dec. 26.

Others being inducted include: Darrell Crouch of Washington; Brian McDonough of Oak Forest, Larry Johnsen Jr. of Geneseo, Jason Karnes of Herrin, Mike Holmes of Leo, Mark Dodd of Bismark-Henning, Mark Grounds of Jacksonville, Chad Hetlet of Glenbard West, Tim Racki of Nazareth Academy in LaGrange Park, Todd Hollis of Elmwood-Brimfield, and Larry Lokanc of Lincoln Way-West.

Darren Sunkett, East St. Louis

Sunkett’s 211 wins are the most in East Side history and his 23-year tenure is the longest. His .770 winning percentage and four state championships are second only to Bob Shannon, who led the Flyers to an .858 winning percentage and six state championships.

Sunkett said he received his nomination call from the Hall of Fame committee last Tuesday, and he had no idea he was going to go in this time around.

“No, you talk to these guys at clinics and things but you never know,” he said. “I received calls alerting me that I had been nominated but you don’t know if it’s going to happen or not going to happen, but you definitely appreciate the call.”

But, for Sunkett, the best part of his job at East Side is watching his athletes spin their hard work into opportunities beyond high school and the Flyers.

“The winning is great. Don’t get me wrong, I love winning,” he said. “But what’s happening on Signing Day … I look forward to that day more than I look forward to opening week just to see the looks on the kids faces and watching the parents and seeing how happy they are to see their kids sign a letter of intent to go to school.”

Scott Horner, Columbia

Horner also completed his 23rd season with the Eagles in 2023.

His teams have qualified for the playoffs 17 times, including a second-place finish in Class 3A in 2007. Five times, it finished the regular season undefeated, including 2008 when the Eagles won a school-record 12 games.

Overall, Horner is 159-76 at Columbia (.677 pct). Among his career highlights, though, is coaching his twin sons, Nic and Sam, in 1988.

Horner enjoyed his own success as a player, quarterbacking Carlyle to a Class 2A state championship in 1988.

He said he shares his Hall of Fame induction with his staff and and school community.

“I was very fortunate to be able to have a staff that has stuck with me through all the years and that’ a part of it a lot of people don’t realize and a part that gets overlooked,” Horner said. “I’ve had great coaching staffs, great community and administrative support and some might say just dumb enough to stay in it long enough, I guess to get an award like this.

“It’s an honor but I accept an award like that on behalf of a lot of people and there’s no disguising that.”