But one play and 16 seconds later, that all became moot. With the Trojans’ defense stacked along the line of scrimmage, Dunston took the handoff, found a hole, broke through it and then raced untouched for the clinching touchdown.
“It’s nice to have an explosive runner back there,” Hefner admitted. “No. 7 can fix a lot of mistakes. He’s a relentless runner that just gets stronger as the game goes on. Our guys up front did a nice job blocking. We decided to just keep giving the best player on the field the ball and see what happens.”
The two teams combined to run 101 plays – 92 of them or 91% -- were running plays. The Hearts had 46 offensive snaps with 41 running plays. Of those, Dunston was given the ball 33 times.
His third touchdown of the game, a 27-yard bolt at the 8:02 mark of the third period, put EHS ahead, 24-7. And the ensuing kickoff pinned the Trojans back at their own 5-yard line. And they were going into the wind.
But Charleston proceeded to put together a drive that was both impressive and extremely rare – for any level. The Trojans used 19 plays – all on the ground – to get back in the game. Running backs Ben Coffey and Marcellx Boling took turns running the ball and turned in gains from 3 to 8 yards on every carry. On the 19th play, quarterback Luke Bonnstetter capped the 10½-minute drive with a one-yard plunge that narrowed the gap to 24-14 with 9:37 left in the game.
The Hearts took another five minutes off the clock on their next possession, but a bobbled snap on a 4th-and-2 gave the Trojans the ball at the EHS 39. This time, it only took Charleston three plays and 54 seconds to reach the end zone again. Coffey’s 28-yard run got the ball to the three and Boling took care of the final yards to make it 24-20 and set the stage for Dunston’s game-deciding run.
“They were kind of having their way with us in the second half,” Hefner said. “We had some new guys playing and moving from spot to spot. But they hung in there and kept working. I’m happy for our guys.”
The Hearts never trailed. They took the opening kickoff and went 65 yards in 10 plays. Passes from Jaxon Bridges to DJ Latham and Kaden Koeberlein kept the drive going and a 32-yard scoring jaunt by Dunston got them on the board at the 6:53 mark.
Charleston responded immediately with an eight-play scoring drive. Coffey was the workhorse, carrying the ball six times. Boling took care of the final yard and the score was tied with 2:46 still to play in the first period.
The rest of the first half belonged to the Hearts.
After Landon Wallace recovered a CHS fumble at the Trojan 38, Dunston converted that into a score with a 25-yard TD run. A muffed punt then resulted in the Hearts getting the ball at Charleston’s 14. But they were unable to move the ball this time and Maicol Sefton booted a 27-yard field goal to account for Effingham’s 17-7 halftime lead.
Effingham had two other good scoring opportunities in the second quarter but failed to take advantage. After another short Charleston punt, EHS got the ball at midfield. But on the third play, Dunston fumbled – the Hearts first turnover of the season.
Late in the half, yet another short punt, plus a personal foul called on Charleston, gave EHS the ball at the Trojans 28. The Hearts, again, were unable to move the ball and then missed a field goal attempt on the final play of the half.
“I was a little disappointed at the end of the first half,” Hefner said. “I thought we left some points on the field.”
Charleston finished with 205 total yards – all on the ground. Coffey gained 146 yards on 24 carries. Bonnstetter attempted four passes, but failed to complete any.
The Hearts racked up 320 yards, with 285 of those on the ground. Dunston carried it 33 times for 259 yards and four TDs. He now has 1,115 yards on the season – and average of 223 per game – and has scored 19 touchdowns. Bridges completed 3-of-4 passes for 35 yards -- all in the first half.
Effingham is now 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Apollo Conference. The Hearts will travel to Taylorville next week for another conference clash. The Tornadoes are 1-4 on the season and 0-2 in league play. They dropped a 28-6 decision to Mahomet-Seymour Friday night after falling to Mt. Zion, 14-12, the week before.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
