“That was certainly a big play, but tonight was just the same old story for us,” Hefner noted. “We just don’t do enough things right to win. We aren’t making winning plays. The stuff you saw tonight was the same stuff we saw the first two weeks. It has to change. The coaches and players have got to get this fixed.”
The Hearts dominated the time of possession in the final two quarters and had promising drives, crossing the midfield stripe three different times. One drive reached the Mattoon 10-yard line. But four interceptions and two holding penalties that nullified first down plays prevented Effingham from reaching the end zone.
“We just didn’t finish,” Hefner said. “Those penalties and negative plays put us behind the chains. Then everybody in the stadium knows you’re going to throw. We’re just not making enough plays that give us a chance to win games.”
Despite the mistakes, the Hearts were still in it to the end.
After Logan Heil stripped the ball from Mattoon quarterback Jackson Spurgeon, the Hearts took over at their own 23. After Pontious was dropped for a two-yard loss, he lofted a deep pass that Estrada hauled in behind the Green Wave secondary raced to the end zone to complete the 79-yard scoring strike. Estrada then booted the extra point to get the Hearts within six points with 2:10 left.
An onside kick failed, but the Hearts stopped Mattoon on three running plays and forced a punt. They got the ball back, but it was at the 8-yard line and they were out of timeouts. They managed to get one first down, but Kobe Cardwell then stepped in and picked off his third pass of the game on the final play of the game.
“Give our kids credit. They never stopped playing and battled to the end,” Hefner said. “I love these kids to death. We just have to stop making so many mistakes.”
Early in the game, it looked like Mattoon might turn the game into a rout. The Green Wave took the opening kickoff and marched 76 yards in just six plays and less than two minutes. Spurgeon completed all three passes in the possession, including a 49-yard catch and run by White. The speedy wideout hauled in seven passes for 146 yards in the game.
Effingham’s first drive looked like it was headed for a game-tying TD. Five straight runs by John Westendorf, including a 34-yard gallop, had the Hearts at the Green Wave four. But the first holding penalty set them back and then a fumbled exchange brought an end to the drive.
Mattoon promptly took over at the 20 and put together another impressive surge. The Green Wave mixed the run and the pass, but moved the ball primarily through the air. Spurgeon completed three more passes that covered 73 yards. Running back Taeriek Grace bulled his way across the goal line from three yards out to complete the nine-play drive and put Mattoon on top 12-0 at the 1:39 mark of the opening period.
“They have a very good quarterback and a very good receiver,” Hefner said. “Plus, we didn’t cover well, we didn’t put any pressure on the quarterback and we didn’t contain the quarterback very well. Early on, we just got ripped.”
But after that, the Green Wave didn’t have another offensive score. They also turned the ball over four times, fumbling it away on three possessions, including one at the EHS six midway through the third period that was recovered by Edgar Castillo. Effingham’s Connor Simmons also had an interception in that third quarter.
After the opening drive of the game, the Hearts didn’t have much offense until the end of the first half. They took over at their own 17 with only 2:05 remaining and proceeded to put together an impressive 11-play drive. Most of it was through the air.
Pontious completed 5-of-6 throws for 75 yards. The first four completions went to Estrada. Then after being sacked and facing a fourth down play, the junior QB threw a strike over the middle to Caden Walls for a 19-yard scoring catch with just seven seconds remaining. That got the Hearts to within 12-7 at intermission.
One of the goals coming into the game was to wear the Mattoon linemen down. Several of them played both ways and it was a muggy, humid night. Coach Hefner used the hurry-up offensive approach throughout. When the Green Wave had the ball, however, they countered by slowing the game considerably, running the play clock down to just one or two seconds before snapping the ball.
Effingham ran 83 plays compared to Mattoon’s 52. The Hearts finished with 437 yards, while the Green Wave had 388. The turnovers and penalties just stopped to many promising possessions.
“We used a fast tempo trying to wear them down,” Hefner admitted. “And we did that. We just didn’t make enough winning plays to finish drives and get the job done. Somehow, we have to turn that around.”
Mattoon had 173 yards on the ground and 215 through the air. Grace finished with 90 yards rushing on just nine carries. The majority of his yards came on a 59-yard run early in the second quarter. Spurgeon finished 12-of-21 passing for 215 yards.
The Hearts had by far their best passing game of the season. Pontious connected on 17-of-31 attempts for 260 yards. Estrada hauled in 11 of those for 205 yards. EHS had 177 rushing yards, with Westendorf picking up 95 on 22 carries.
Effingham dropped to 1-3 on the season and 1-2 in the Apollo. The Hearts will travel to Taylorville next Friday and face the Tornados on Homecoming Night. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
