By Steve Raymond
ET Sport Report
The Effingham Hearts used a balanced offensive attack Friday night to post their first win of the season, a 31-13 thumping over Charleston at Washington Savings Bank Stadium.
The Hearts amassed 410 yards of offense – 211 on the ground and another 199 through the air – and established dominance for most of the contest. And had it not been for a couple turnovers, the margin of victory could have easily been even greater.
“Winning is hard,” EHS coach Brett Hefner said moments after the victory. “You have to celebrate every win. And getting the first win is really good. You can’t get the second, third or fourth win until you get that first one.”
Beginning midway through the first quarter, the Hearts had seven consecutive drives they either scored or threatened to score. Those possessions resulted in four touchdowns, a school-record field goal and two turnovers inside the Charleston 10.
Effingham got some outstanding performances on offense. Evan Waymoth, normally the starting fullback, took over the tailback duties after John Westendorf was lost for the season due to a torn ACL and backup Weldon Dunston missed the game due to an ankle injury, sustained last week at Mahomet-Seymour.
In his first start at tailback, Waymoth cracked the 100-yard plateau, finishing with 101 yards on 23 carries.
“They say the most important ability is availability,” Hefner noted. “That was certainly the case tonight for Waymoth and Kaden (Koeberlein, who replaced Waymoth at fullback). They both stepped up and played well. It’s tough moving from fullback to tailback. You move three yards further back and become the guy running the ball rather than the guy blocking.”
Quarterback Tanner Pontious also had a strong game. He completed 11-of-17 attempts for 199 yards and two TDs. He also ran for 48 yards and a score.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
The Effingham Hearts won’t be facing a state-ranked opponent Friday night, but EHS coach Brett Hefner said the preparation doesn’t change.
“There’s no difference in how we prepare,” the veteran coach emphasized. “Finding the balance in still getting the work in but also staying as fresh as you can is a challenge. But we’ve got a good opponent coming here Friday and we’ve got to be ready to play.”
The Hearts will play host to the Charleston Trojans. Both teams will enter the game 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the Apollo Conference. Effingham dropped an 18-0 decision to St. Teresa, the No. 2 team in Class 2A, in the season opener; and then fell 35-14 to Mahomet-Seymour last week. The Bulldogs are the No. 3 team in Class 5A.
The Trojans opened their season with a 41-30 loss to Herscher and were then shutout, 20-0, by conference foe Lincoln last week. They have just three seniors on their roster, but still return an experienced team after playing a lot of underclassmen a year ago.
Charleston racked up 277 offensive yards, but gave up 447 in the defeat to Herscher. The Trojans were limited to just 139 offensive yards, while allowing 273 to Lincoln. Senior running Jeremiah Hayes, after running for 112 yards against Herscher, was limited to only 37 last week. Junior quarterback Brett Spour threw for 112 yards against Herscher, but had just 41 yards through the air against the Railsplitters.
“Offensively, they are similar to us,” Hefner noted. “They’ll run from the I-formation with three receivers and a tight end. They’re more of a traditional offense.”
Defensively, Charleston will present an even front “and they won’t blitz or have much movement. They will be the direct opposite of what we saw last week.”
By Steve Raymond
New Report Staff
From No. 2 in Class 2A to No. 3 in Class 5A.
No, the Effingham football schedule does not get any easier this week.
The Hearts, who dropped an 18-0 decision to perennial 2A powerhouse Decatur St. Teresa in the season opener at home, will now travel to Mahomet-Seymour to face a highly experienced and explosive Bulldogs team.
“They’ve got just about everybody back,” EHS coach Brett Hefner noted. “They were an easy pick to win our (Apollo) conference. And many think they’ll make a run at the 5A state title. They’ve a very good team.”
The Bulldogs gained a measure of revenge in their season opener. After falling to Morton in the 5A quarterfinals last year, Mahomet-Seymour posted a 51-14 whipping of the Potters this time around.
Led by senior quarterback Wyatt Bohm and senior receiver-runner-kick returner Valient Walsh, the Bulldogs put up 338 total yards and scored at least once in every quarter against Morton.
Bohm completed 17-of-26 passes – connecting with six different receivers – for 228 yards and four touchdowns. He threw one interception.
Walsh caught five of those passes for 66 yards and two touchdowns, plus he had a rushing TD and added a 92-yard kickoff return for a fourth score. Fellow senior receiver Quenton Rogers also hauled in five receptions for 78 yards and a touchdown.
“They like to throw it around,” Hefner said. “They have their same quarterback and two outstanding receivers back from last year. They’ll still run it, too. But they like to get their athletes involved and let them make big plays.”
Something the Hearts were not able to do against St. Teresa.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sport Report
The Effingham defense didn’t let an explosive Mahomet-Seymour team run the ball or pass the ball downfield effectively.
But the Bulldogs, a team many believe can challenge for the Class 5A state title this year, used their athleticism and speed to turn short screen passes into big plays repeatedly.
MSHS, ranked No. 3 in the early polls, used a screen pass to score on 27, 50 and 62-yard plays, en route to a 35-14 win at home Friday night over a Hearts team that turned in a very competitive performance.
“I love our kids. I love the way they play hard and compete,” EHS coach Brett Hefner said following the game. “I doubt anybody in the state has played two tougher teams than we have to open the season. But I really like some things I’m seeing. I think we’re close to going on a roll.”
The Bulldogs racked up 407 total yards, with 325 of those coming through the air. Of that, 196 yards were amassed on the simple screen pass.
“We played our tails off defensively,” Heffner noted. “I liked a whole lot of things I saw tonight. When you can’t run the ball or pass the ball, you run screens. We have to recognize those quicker.”
After punting on its first possession, MSHS got on the board midway through the opening quarter. The Bulldogs put together a 12-play, 86-yard drive. Five running plays gained just eight yards, but senior quarterback Wyatt Bohm connected with Valient Walsh and Quenton Rogers twice. Both passes to Rogers were short dump passes, but effective.
Rogers turned the first one into a 20-yard pick-up and the second was a 27-yard catch and run that put the Bulldogs on the scoreboard at the 5:09 mark.
Offensively for Effingham, some improvements were seen, but work is still needed. Over half of their possessions were five plays or less. The Hearts had the ball six times in the opening half and ran a total of 26 plays, gaining only 51 total yards and earning just three first downs.
“I did see some good things, but there’s a lot of things we still need to clean up,” Hefner admitted. “I thought we executed a little better tonight, but our quarterback still needs time to make plays. He kept some plays alive and our receivers caught the ball better. But there’s still plenty to clean up.”
By Steve Raymond
ET Sport Report
“We’ll be fine.”
That was the message Brett Hefner conveyed to his team after Friday night’s 18-0 setback to Decatur St. Teresa in the season opener played on the new turf on Jack Klosterman Field at Washington Savings Bank Stadium.
Defensively, the Hearts turned in a strong overall performance against a Bulldog squad most believe will be ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in Class 2A.
Offensively, Effingham has work to do.
“We’re a work in progress offensively,” Coach Hefner noted. “You can’t just run the ball, run the ball, run the ball. At some point, you have to make plays and we’re still trying to figure out where our explosive plays are going to come from.”
The Hearts gained just 154 total yards and 49 of those came on just two plays – a 33-yard burst by John Westendorf late in the first half and a 16-yard completion from quarterback Tanner Pontious to Caden Walls in the fourth quarter. Other than that, there weren’t many holes to run through and Pontious had virtually no time to throw when he dropped back to pass.
“We got whipped up front,” Hefner said. “We just didn’t block very well, but there are some things we can clean up and improve on. And when we did have chances to make plays, we didn’t get it done. Against good teams like this, you won’t have many chances to make plays. And when those chances are there, you have to take advantage. We didn’t do that.”
The Bulldogs defense recorded what proved to be the only touchdown they needed midway through the first period. A Pontious pass was intercepted by linebacker Christion Harper, who avoided one tackler and raced 31 yards for the score, giving St. Teresa a 6-0 lead at the 7:44 mark.
Effingham’s best two offensive possessions were in the first half. The first was a 12-play, eight-minute drive that started at the 12-yard line. Despite being deep in its own territory, the Hearts went for it on two consecutive fourth down plays. Pontious used a quarterback sneak both times to keep the drive alive. One the third fourth down call, sophomore running back Weldon Dunston was stopped short, giving the Bulldogs possession at the EHS 44.
The Bulldogs got to the 14, but the Hearts defense held.
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