By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
There’s a reason Mahomet-Seymour was the pre-season favorite to win the Apollo Conference.
The Bulldogs showed why Friday night.
They dominated every phase of the game.
The hosts used two long pass plays to open a first-half lead and then scored on every possession in the second half, en route to a 48-0 victory at home over Effingham on Senior Night.
The Bulldogs ran and threw for more than 200 yards, amassing 476 total yards on the night. Meanwhile, on the defensive side of the ball, they limited the Hearts to only 125 yards – and just 18 in the second half.
The scoring started quickly. On Mahomet-Seymour’s third play from scrimmage, quarterback Lucas Dyer threw a short screen pass to Braden Pagel. He avoided one tackle and raced 69 yards for the score. Just 49 seconds into the game, the hosts had a 7-0 lead.
The Hearts played the Bulldogs on pretty even terms the remainder of the first half. They had two drives advance inside the Mahomet-Seymour 10-yard line, but fourth down plays were not successful and EHS gave up the ball at the 8 and 5.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
It’s quite simple.
To qualify for the playoffs, high school football teams have to win at least five games.
With the Effingham Hearts now 3-3, they must win two of their final three contests.
And that starts with Friday’s matchup at Mahomet-Seymour.
The Bulldogs are 5-1 overall and currently set atop the Apollo Conference standings with a 3-0 record.
“This will be a tough one,” said EHS coach Brett Hefner. “They’ve been on a pretty good roll the last couple years. Playing up there, we’ll definitely have our hands full.”
After dropping a 20-14 decision to Morton in the season opener, Mahomet-Seymour has rattled off five straight wins – and they haven’t really been challenged. The Bulldogs have outscored those five opponents – Highland, Quincy Notre Dame, Charleston, Taylorville and Mt. Zion – 187-42. They are coming off a 26-7 win over Mt. Zion last week.
The Bulldogs will enter Friday night’s contest averaging 33 points and 364 yards a game.
“They go fast on offense,” Hefner explained. “They do a good job with their formations. They like to throw a lot of screens, quick hitters and short passes. They spread the ball around a lot.
“It’s difficult to prepare for them,” the veteran EHS coach added. “To slow a pass rush down, teams either run the ball well or throw a screen pass. They’re very good at running screens. That’s the main reason their passing game is so difficult to stop. They have a number of guys that can catch and run, plus their quarterback is very accurate with the ball.”
By Steve Raymond
The News Report
Most coaches shy away from referring to a game as a “must win.”
Effingham coach Brett Hefner is one of those.
“What happens if you say that and then you don’t win?” Hefner noted. “What message have you sent your team?”
Keeping that in consideration, we can certainly refer to Friday night’s contest as an important game.
The Hearts will return home to face Taylorville. It’s an Apollo Conference game, plus it will be Homecoming at Washington Savings Bank Stadium.
“It’s important we stay focused on the game in front of us,” Hefner emphasized. “Friday night is important. We need another win in the conference. We still control our own destiny when it comes to the conference and the playoffs. But we have to handle this one before we worry about any other game.”
The Tornados will enter the contest with a 3-2 overall mark and an 0-2 record in league play. The Hearts are 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the Apollo.
By Steve Raymond
The News Report
What a difference a week makes.
Especially in the second half.
A week ago, the Effingham Hearts turned the ball over four times in the final 24 minutes and the result was a 21-17 setback at Charleston.
Friday night’s second half performance was a complete turnaround.
In a word, it was domination. Total domination.
The Hearts literally ran the ball down Taylorville’s throat. They had the ball four times and scored four times. They ran 19 plays in the second half – 18 of them on the ground. They scored four offensive touchdowns and added a Pick 6, en route to a 34-0 whitewash over the final two periods.
When that final horn sounded, Effingham was celebrating a 55-12 rout of Taylorville on Homecoming Night at Washington Savings Bank Stadium.
“The kids handled the adjustments we made at halftime really well,” EHS coach Brett Hefner said. “And they never quit playing.”
The Hearts, despite some mistakes in the first half, still held a 21-12 advantage at intermission. They then set the tone for the final two quarters on their initial drive of the second half.
They took possession at their own 40 and proceeded to put together a nine-play drive – all on the ground. Running back Weldon Dunston and quarterback Gaige Gillum took turns gouging the Tornadoes defense. Dunston had four carries, including a 13-yard burst, and Gillum ran it the other five plays, reeling off runs of 11 and 12 yards, and then capping the drive with a six-yard scamper to increase Effingham’s lead to 28-12.
And that was just the beginning of a second half scoring blitz.
By Steve Raymond
The News Report
Fumble, fumble, fumble, interception.
Six possessions.
Four turnovers.
That pretty well sums up the second half of Friday night’s football game.
The Effingham Hearts were close to taking control of the game, but they simply couldn’t take care of the ball and Charleston was the beneficiary, posting a 21-17 Apollo Conference victory on Homecoming Night at Trojan Field.
“Too many non-winning plays,” EHS coach Brett Hefner said following the contest. “We talk about it all the time. More games are lost than won and you saw that here again tonight.
“When you play good people, the margin for error is minimal,” Hefner added. “Penalties and turnovers. It’s hard to overcome those things. For us, it’s the same story. Until those things get fixed, we’re going to have trouble beating people.”
The first fumble was arguably the key play of the game.
The Hearts, who fell behind 14-7 late in the second quarter, got a field goal on the last play of the first half and then opened the second half with an impressive scoring drive to take the lead. The EHS defense then came up with a stop.
On the ensuing possession, two running plays garnered a first down and the Hearts appeared to be taking control. But on the third play, a bad exchange on a handoff resulted in a fumble that was recovered by Charleston’s Marcellx Boling at the EHS 42-yard line.
Nine plays later, Ben Coffey bulled his way across the goal line from one yard out to give the Trojans a 21-17 lead – a lead they never relinquished.
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