The Bulldogs high-powered offense proved unstoppable in the first 24 minutes.
They took the opening kickoff and recorded their first touchdown in 78 seconds. Five plays into the contest, quarterback Lucas Dyer threw a short pass to Bryson Tiefenthaler. The speedy sophomore receiver broke a couple tackles and raced 57 yards to put the guests up 7-0 at the 10:36 mark of the opening period.
And that was just the beginning. Effingham also had six possessions in the opening half. Those ended with five punts and a fumble.
Mahomet-Seymour’s scoring drives took 5, 8, 2, 6, 2 and 8 plays; covered 78, 80, 61, 68, 3 and 71 yards; and averaged just 1:21 in length.
And most of the damage was done through the air.
Dyar connected on 17-of-25 attempts – all in the first half – for 331 yards. He finished with four TD passes. After the opening drive, he added scoring strikes of 15, 54 and 7 yards. Tiefenthaler added another touchdown catch, while Raymond Long and Gavin Hammerschmidt both hauled in one.
Tiefenthaler and Hammerschmidt both had five receptions and finished with 118 and 106 yards respectively. Mason Orton had four more catches for 92 yards.
“It’s the same thing we’ve struggled with all year,” Hefner noted. “It doesn’t seem to matter what coverage we play, we give up way too much through the air. Plus, we’re not getting consistent pressure on the quarterback.”
While the Bulldogs offense was racking up points, their defense wasn’t allowing a thing. The Hearts entered the game averaging 275 yards on the ground. They were limited to 23 rushing yards on 24 carries. Weldon Dunston IV came in averaging 229 yards. He was held to 22 yards on 12 carries.
“They made it tough sledding tonight for us offensively,” Hefner said. “Their defense really gets after you.”
Because the lead was more than 40 points at halftime, there was a continuously running clock in the second half.
Mahomet-Seymour improved to 5-2 overall and remained unbeaten in conference play at 4-0. They will wrap up their conference season next week at home against Mattoon.
The Hearts are now 4-3 overall and dipped to 2-2 in the Apollo. They will also conclude league play next week, traveling to Mt. Zion. The Braves have an identical record after posting a 20-17 win over Charleston Friday night.
Both teams need one more win to qualify for the playoffs.
“We have two games left,” Hefner said. “We have to find a way to win at least one of those, although I’d like to get them both. I believe both are winnable games.”