Then on the first possession of the third period, the Hearts fumbled the ball away on their second play and the Rockets quickly capitalized. Reiss completed two passes to his favorite receiver Parker Gillespie and then capped the short 27-yard drive with a four-yard run that increased the lead to 28-14.

“We had them reeling a little at the end of the first half,” Hefner noted. “We loosened up our coverage at the end of the half trying to keep the ball in front us, but they still punched one in. Then we had the turnover to start the second half. That gave them a short field and they scored quickly. That was tough.”

And it proved to be just the beginning of the game-changing 31-point surge.

While the Effingham offense had trouble even generating a first down, the Rockets offense was clicking, especially the Reiss-to-Gillespie combination. That duo hooked up for a 25-yard scoring play, followed by a 63-yard strike that made it 42-14.

The Rockets capped the surge with a 34-yard field goal by Zoe Cormier with 2:07 to play in the third period.

“I thought we did a good job defending the run, but they made plays in the air,” Hefner said. “We knew they would throw the ball and that they would throw it to No. 17 (Gillespie). But they put four guys out wide and you have to try to cover them all.”

Rochester had 144 yards on the ground, which was 30 yards less than their season average, but Reiss threw for 338 yards. He completed 19-of-37 passes, with four TDs and one interception. Gillespie hauled in 11 of those passes for 265 yards and three scores.

In the opening minutes of the game, however, things looked promising for the Hearts. In fact, on the very first play, EHS defensive lineman Eli Middendorf literally ripped the ball out of Reiss’s hands and gave the Hearts the ball at the Rochester 17.

Weldon Dunston carried the ball twice for a first down, and on the fourth play, quarterback Tanner Pontious covered the final two yards to put Effingham on top 7-0 just two minutes into the contest.

“We got off a great start,” Hefner said. “I thought we gained some confidence. But when you play really good people, there’s just no margin for error.”

Rochester got a 38-yard touchdown from Reiss to Gillespie to tie the game and then took a 14-7 lead when Reiss ran it in from six yards out at the 4:39 mark of the opening quarter.

The Rockets had other scoring opportunities, but two more fumbles stopped drives. And with 3:05 to play in the second period, a Reiss pass was tipped and intercepted by a diving Evan Waymoth, giving the Hearts possession at the Rockets 34.

A six-yard run by Pontious accounted for one first down and then an 18-yard strike to Jacob Weaver moved the ball to the two. It took four downs, but Pontious bulled his way in from one-yard out to tie the game with just 1:01 left before halftime.

“At halftime, I told the guy we were just fine,” Hefner said. “It was just a one score game and we had possession to start the second half. Things just didn’t go very well from there.”

The Hearts finished with just 114 total yards on offense – only 42 in the second half. Dunston ran for 76 yards, but five quarterback sacks resulted in a loss of 45 of those yards. Pontious finished the day 3-for-11 for 34 yards and two interceptions. EHS also lost one fumble.

Effingham finished the season at 5-5.

“This was a successful year,” Hefner noted. “These kids have been through a lot. First, they had to deal with the COVID crap. Then this year, they had to play two ranked 5A teams, the No. 1 team in 2A and then drew a tough team in the first round.

“I hate it for them,” Hefner added. “With a decent draw, I felt we had a chance to win a couple more game. We’re better than our playoff seed.

“I can’t say enough good about this team. Their growth and improvement from Week 1 until now has been amazing. And I love the way they always compete. I’m very proud of this group.”

The Rockets, now 9-1 on the season, will face Breese Central is the next round. The Knights defeated Mt. Zion 21-18 Saturday.