It started with consecutive three and out possessions and ended with back-to-back interceptions – first by Logan Brown and then by Jakob Logan with just 1:13 to play that sealed the victory.

“This is a difficult offense to defend, especially when you don’t see it on a regular basis,” said EHS coach Brett Hefner. “Plus, they execute it very well. I told the kids they just had to keep playing.

“I was really proud of how the kids hung in there,” Hefner added. “I think they started to adjust to it a little and then we made a couple big plays at the end. This was a very good win for us.”

Early on, neither defense was a factor, as both offenses dominated.

Effingham’s first offensive series resulted in zero yards, followed by an 11-yard punt that gave the hosts a short field to work with, starting at the Hearts 43. Seven running plays later and the Panthers were up 7-0.

But that was just the beginning of a relentless back-and-forth offensive display.

The Hearts responded with a six-play, 77-yard drive, with almost all the yardage coming through the air. A 12-yard completion from quarterback Nathan Shackelford – who was a perfect 10-for-10 in the game – to Tristin Duncan on third down kept the drive alive.

That was followed by a 41-yard reception and run by Duncan and then a 20-yard strike to Jeff Gillum for the touchdown.

Jerseyville responded quickly. On the second play of its ensuing possession, quarterback Matthew Jackson teamed up with Zeke Waltz for a 63-yard touchdown to make it 14-6.

But, again, the Hearts came right back and it took only 15. On the very next play, Brown took a handoff, broke free from the line of scrimmage and raced 73 yards for a TD that trimmed the gap to 14-13.

After forcing the Panthers to finally punt, Effingham’s offense proceeded to march again. This time, it was a six-play, 53-yard drive. A 20-yard reception by Gillum and a 12-yard catch by Cam Kalber were the key plays, and Chase Woomer capped things off with a 12-yard run to put EHS on top for the first time, 20-14.

But it was a short-lived lead. Jerseyville got a couple big runs from Carter Quin – a 10-yard scamper followed by a 25-yard burst – and then a 13-yard jaunt by Jackson to put the hosts ahead again, 21-20.

But right before halftime, the Hearts found the end zone once more. They ran the ball 11 straight plays, but on the 12th, the Shackelford-Duncan connection struck again, this time from 23 yards out to send Effingham to the locker room with a 27-21 edge at intermission.

“Our offense had a lot of success tonight,” Hefner said. “But I think they would be the first to tell you, they also left some points on the field. We made our share of mistakes. But we stayed aggressive and were able to move the ball pretty well. We’ve got a quarterback and some receivers that are pretty good.”

The first seven minutes of the second half was more of the same. Jerseyville took the kickoff and immediately put together a seven-play, 64-yard drive with relative ease. Quin carried the ball five times for 37 yards, including the final eight for the score. He finished with 104 rushing yards.

And then it was Effingham’s turn to march down the field almost at will. Shackelford got the team in scoring position after scrambling away from pressure and then taking off downfield, finishing with a 45-yard burst that moved the ball to the Panther 28. Two runs by Chase Woomer covered 17 yards and then – you guessed it – Shackelford found Duncan again for an 11-yard scoring play that put the Hearts ahead to stay.

Surprisingly, the game totally changed after that.

Over the ensuing four possessions, Jerseyville managed -1, 2, 24 and 0 yards. Effingham wanted to add another score to provide some cushion, but its offense wasn’t there either. A holding penalty stopped one drive, a fumble halted the next and the inability to pick up a 4th-and-1 caused a drive to stall and give the Panthers great field position at the EHS 49 and 1:43 to play.

“We have a mentality that we should be able to pick up a 4th-and-1,” Hefner said. “If you can’t pick that up, you don’t deserve to win. We had a missed assignment on the play that hurt, but fortunately, our defense came through and we came out of it okay.”

The Hearts finished with 380 offensive yards, with 231 of those coming on the ground and another 149 through the air. Brown carried the ball 13 times for 129 yards and Woomer had 16 carries for another 56.

As mentioned earlier, Shackelford didn’t throw an incompletion in 10 attempts and finished with 149 yards. Duncan had 6 receptions for 92 yards.

Following the game, Coach Hefner was a little concerned about the health of his squad.

“I just hope injury-wise we come out of this game okay,” he said. “We got banged up a little, so we’re going to need to get healed up this week.”

The win pushes Effingham’s record to 3-0. The Hearts, who entered the week tied for No. 8 in the Class 4A rankings, will return home next Friday to face Mahomet-Seymour in an Apollo Conference contest.