Finally, midway through the second period, Effingham reached the end zone. The Hearts took over at their own 30. The first play was a deep pass to Tristin Duncan, who was all alone behind the Charleston secondary. But the pass was a bit long and the speedy receiver couldn’t catch to it.

A four-yard run by Chase Woomer, who had the best game of his young varsity career, and a six-yard pass to Duncan resulted in a first down.

Two plays later, Shackelford loaded up and went deep to Duncan again. This time, the two hooked up and the result was a 60-yard TD strike. Ivan Angel booted the extra point, and four minutes later, the two teams headed to the locker room tied 7-7 at intermission.

“It took as awhile to get going,” EHS coach Brett Hefner admitted. “Thankfully, our defense played well until the offense got untracked. It just didn’t seem like we ever got into a rhythm offensively.”

So what did he tell his team at halftime?

“I just told the defense to keep playing and I told the offense we had to quit giving the ball to the other team,” Hefner said.

The defense responded immediately, forcing three punts, intercepting two passes and recovering a fumble on Charleston’s first six possessions of the second half.

But offensively, nothing looked much different as the third quarter began. On the first play, Shackelford was picked off by Schuette again and the second possession resulted in a lost fumble at the Trojans six yard line.

“That interception to start the second half is on me,” Hefner said. “We weren’t clicking offensively and I got a little impatient. That was a bad play call.”

But after Parker Wolfe hauled in the first of his two second-half interceptions, giving the Hearts possession at Charleston’s 34, suddenly the Hearts offense started to click.

Sophomore Kegan Baker ran for six yards, Shackelford broke free for a 25-yard gallop and Baker then capped the three-play, 40-second drive with a three-yard run, and Beau Hefner kicked the extra point to put the Hearts ahead to stay, 14-7.

But that was just the first of four consecutive scoring drives.

Gunnar Franklin recovered a fumble to give EHS the ball right back at the Trojans 49. Woomer carried the bulk of the load, running the ball six times. A seven-yard completion to Holden Lewis and a 15-yard strike to Duncan helped “move the sticks” and Woomer capped the eight-play drive with a one-yard bolt.

The Hearts followed that with a nine-play scoring drive, capped by a 24-yard catch and run by Cam Kalber. The senior receiver hauled in a short pass, took advantage of a key block, made a nice move inside the 10 and rambled across the goal line to make it 28-7.

The Shackelford-Kalber connection also accounted for the team’s final TD. The team had to overcome a holding penalty, but Shackelford raced for 18 yards and then found Kalber in the back of the end zone for a 22-yard strike.

The Trojans tacked on a late touchdown, recovering the ball after a fumbled fair catch, and gaining possession at the Hearts five. One play later, Cory Spour ran it in to wrap up the scoring.

Defensively, the Hearts dominated, allowing only 114 total yards. The secondary was especially strong. Charleston quarterback Nick Cheney was only 5-for-24 for 23 yards and three interceptions. In addition to Wolfe’s two, Mason Hasty also had a pick.

Offensively, Effingham ended with 397 yards. Woomer carried the ball 24 times for 134 yards, a career high for the junior running back. Shackelford ended 11-for-20 through the air for 178 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions. Duncan was on the receiving end of six of those passes for 111 yards.

The Hearts played most of the game without three starters. Coach Hefner knew running back Logan Brown (ankle) and defensive lineman Ethan Huss (knee) would not be available. But Thursday, he found out center Stetson Green had a broken finger. He tried to play, but was replaced by sophomore Trevin Dust early in the game.

“Stetson tried like crazy to be ready and to play,” Hefner noted. “He was sore and never complained, but it just wasn’t working. So Trevin got to see his first varsity action and did pretty well. But with three starters out, it makes it tough.

“This team had a lot to deal with,” Hefner added. “We knew Logan and Ethan would be out and then we find out our center has a broken finger. A Friday, we only had a half day of school. In football, a change in routine is never good.

“You ask any of the kids in our locker room and I guarantee you nobody is happy with our performance tonight,” the coach continued. “But I’m proud of the kids, the way they hung in there and the way they just kept playing. And we’re now 5-0.”

The Hearts, who are 3-0 in league play, will return home next Friday for another Apollo Conference matchup with Mattoon. Game time at Jack Klosterman Field will be 7 p.m. It will also be Homecoming.