By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
What started off as a promising season came to a disappointing end Friday night.
Centralia scored on all four of its offensive possessions in the first half to open a sizeable lead and went on to post a 35-19 victory over Effingham in the season finale at Washington Savings Bank Stadium.
The Hearts won four of their first five games to climb within one victory of a playoff berth. But four straight setbacks prevented them from qualifying for postseason play.
“It’s very disappointing,” said EHS coach Brett Hefner. “The last couple years, there has been one game that came back to haunt us. This year, it was Taylorville. That’s one we should have had. It would have been our fifth win and we’d playing again next week.”
Despite the three-game skid, Effingham entered Friday night’s game with still a chance to reach the playoffs. And after the first possession for each team, it looked like we might be in for a shootout.
The Orphans, behind the running of junior Mike Brown and passing of freshman Archie Goewey, showed why they had cracked the 40-point plateau four times this season. They marched 77 yards on 12 plays to take the early 7-0 lead.
But the Hearts responded, putting together a 13-play, 6½-minute drive that covered 68 yards. A fourth down, 21-yard completion from Jaxon Bridges to Wade Bushur kept the drive alive. Co-quarterback Max Buzzard had a pair of 6-yard runs and Weldon Dunston IV capped the possession with a one-yard drive to knot the score at 7-7 at the 1:30 mark of the first period.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
For the second straight year, the Effingham football team will face Centralia, needing a win to make the playoffs.
Like Yogi Berra said – “It’s déjà vu all over again.”
Win and the Hearts are in.
Lose and the season is over.
It’s that simple.
The Orphans will enter Washington Savings Bank Stadium, sporting a 5-3 record, knowing they will be in the postseason.
The Hearts are 4-4, having dropped their last three games.
“We’re in this situation strictly due to us, which is frustrating,” EHS coach Brett Hefner admitted. “We put ourselves in this position. That’s the negative part.
“But here we are in Week 9 and still have something to play for,” Hefner added. “That’s the positive part.”
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
It’s quite simple.
The Effingham Hearts are not going to win the Apollo Conference.
But they can still have a winning season and qualify for the postseason playoffs.
It takes one more victory.
And they have two weeks to get that done.
The first hurdle will be Friday night at Mt. Zion. The Hearts will then close out their regular season with a home game against Centralia the following week.
Effingham and Mt. Zion will enter with identical records – 2-2 in conference play; 4-2 overall. It takes five wins to become playoff eligible.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
For the Effingham Hearts, it has come down to a one-game season.
Win and they qualify for the playoffs.
Lose and their season is over.
That will be the case next Friday night when Effingham will play host to Centralia in the regular season finale.
Needing five wins to qualify for postseason play, the Hearts looked to be in good shape three weeks ago when they sported a 4-1 record.
But they have now dropped three straight, the latest being a 28-0 setback Friday night at Mt. Zion.
For the second week in a row, the EHS defense struggled to stop a high-powered passing attack.
And for the second week in a row, the offense was unable to generate much of an attack and was kept off the scoreboard again.
“It’s the same thing we had last week,” EHS coach Brett Hefner said. “You can’t give up the big plays on defense and then not be able to run the ball and expect to win. You just can’t.”
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Six touchdowns.
42 points.
376 offensive yards.
Two receivers with more than 100 yards in receptions and another with 92.
And that was only in the first half.
Mahomet-Seymour showed why they were the overwhelming favorites to win the Apollo Conference and why many believe they can make a deep run in the Class 5A playoffs.
They scored on all six of their first-half possessions, built a 42-0 halftime lead and finished with a 49-0 victory Friday night over the Effingham Hearts at Washington Savings Bank Stadium.
“There’s a reason why they’ve had the success they’ve had,” EHS coach Brett Hefner said following the contest. “They’ve got a lot of kids back and they play quality people in their non-conference schedule. I fully expect them to make to the quarterfinal round in the playoffs.”
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