The Rangers finished with only 107 total yards and 84 of those came on one play that can only be referred to as a fluke.

On Benton’s very first possession, running back Tyler Butler was not only stopped, but had the ball pried loose from his grip. Several Hearts defenders immediately responded and went for the fumble.

Unfortunately, it bounced right up into the arms of Benton quarterback Keegan Glover, who got to the outside, turned the corner and showed good speed while racing 84 yards down the sideline to give the Rangers a 7-0 lead just a little over five minutes into the game.

“That will be a good teaching point this week,” said EHS coach Brett Hefner. “Several of the kids thought the play was over and got caught standing around. You can’t do that.

“But these kids don’t flinch,” Hefner added. “They just keep playing.”

And for the rest of the game, that defensive unit not only continue to play, they completely dominated.

The Rangers ran a total of 40 plays in the contest. For the other 39, the Hearts allowed a total of 21 more yards. Glover completed 3-of-8 passes for a single yard. And 31 more rushing attempts netted Benton a measly 22 more.

In addition, EHS had 10 tackles for loss and racked up four quarterback sacks -- by Mason Hasty, Tristen Elkin, Alex Baughman and Hayvin Prather.

Hasty also recovered a fumble and cornerback Parker Wolfe was back to his old antics, intercepting a pass for the third straight game, giving him eight in the past three contests and 10 for the season, which ties the school record.

“Our defense has been playing real well for a number of weeks,” Hefner admitted. “We try to keep people in front of us, make tackles and put pressure on the quarterback. If you can do those things, you’re going to be successful. I’m very pleased with how our defense has been playing.”

As for Wolfe?

“He’s just good,” Hefner added. “He has the unique ability to play the ball and a great awareness and understanding of the game. He’s our best cover guy.”

Offensively, things didn’t start real well for the Hearts. They punted on their first series and then lost a fumble on the following series after reaching the Benton 15.

Benton’s 3-4 scheme is not one many teams play, plus the Rangers had a large defensive line, anchored by 290-pound senior nose guard Brent Prince.

“Our offense was hit and miss much of the game,” Hefner said. “But they had those big guys up front and they could play. That’s certainly part of the reason we had trouble moving the ball at times.”

The Rangers “stacked the box” in an attempt to control Effingham’s running game and then double-teamed speedy receiver Tristin Duncan. That meant something was left open.

“You could tell they wanted to stop our run and not let Tristin beat them deep,” Hefner explained. “That meant our tight ends and fullback were going to be open. And then ‘Shack’ did a good job finding those open receivers.”

Duncan, who has over 1,000 receiving yards for the season, was limited to just one catch and 29 yards. But tight ends Jacob Briggerman and Kollin Waymoth combined for five catches, 90 yards and a touchdown apiece; and fullback Jett Gillum hauled in three more passes for another 53 yards and a score.

The Hearts tied the game on a fourth down pass, taking advantage of a fake punt by Benton that failed, giving EHS possession at the Rangers 14 yard line. On the seventh play, quarterback Nate Shackelford found Holden Lewis open in the end zone from 10 yards out to knot the score.

From that point on, it was all Effingham.

The Hearts had the ball three more times in the opening half and scored each time.

The go-ahead score was an 8-play, 52-yard drive that was capped by a three-yard plunge by Logan Brown. Before intermission, Shackelford broke loose for a 25-yard sprint to the end zone and then connected with Waymoth for an 8-yard TD, sending the Hearts to the locker room with a 28-7 edge.

“We live on explosive plays, but the wind, plus their defense, made those plays hard to find tonight,” Hefner said. “But we’ve got a number of guys that are hard to defend. Plus, we have a quarterback that is a true dual threat who is another explosive player for us.”

The Hearts tacked on two more scores in the second half.

Shackelford struck first, breaking up the middle and racing untouched for 49 yards late in the third quarter. The senior QB the completed the scoring with a 22-yard catch and run with Briggerman midway through the final period.

Despite the sluggish start, the Hearts managed to rack up 423 offensive yards – 241 on the ground and 182 through the air. Shackelford ran for 104, giving him 322 in the first two playoff games. He also completed 10-of-17 passes with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

The victory not only put Effingham into the third round for the second consecutive season, it also improved their record to 10-1, becoming the first Hearts football team to ever notch 10 victories in a season.

“Being the winningest team ever is a nice accomplishment. We’ll enjoy that for 12 to 18 hours,” Hefner said with a bit of a laugh. “Then we’ll go to work on the next game. This is a fun time of year. Hopefully, we’ll be able to take that next step.”