The Hearts, who had put together a pair of long scoring drives in the opening half, were hopeful of taking the second half kickoff and doing so again. A 15-yard pass from quarterback Tanner Pontious to sophomore receiver Andrew Lotz on third down provided a promising start.
But three plays later, a Pontious pass intended for Evan Waymoth was picked off by Highland’s Gabe Marti. He then broke a couple tackles and ran it all the way down to the Effingham 13. Four plays later, Wuebbels pushed it in from one yard out to increase the lead to 28-14.
“Those were the two big plays of the game,” EHS coach Brett Hefner admitted. “On the play right before halftime, we just didn’t cover properly and let the kid get behind us. And the second one was a good play call. Our receiver was open. The timing of the throw just wasn’t there.”
It was definitely an offensive night. As mentioned before, the two teams combined to run 120 plays – 69 by the Hearts; 51 by Highland. There were nine touchdowns scored and 714 total yards gained. There wasn’t a single punt in the game.
But once the Bulldogs got the two-score lead, they were never threatened. They added a score early in the fourth period to stretch the margin to 35-14.
The Hearts did put together another long drive in the fourth quarter. They ran 13 plays – 10 on the ground – and found the end zone when John Westendorf dove in from three yards out to narrow the gap to 35-21.
But Highland recovered the ensuing onside kick, got a 27-yard gallop from Travis Porter and capped the game’s scoring when Wuebbels connected with Brody Lewis for a 16-yard TD pass.
“They are very good offensively,” Hefner noted. “We struggled on defense. You can tell we need more time in the weight room and more physical development if we’re going to stop teams like that. We’re just not there right now.”
The first half featured one long scoring drive after another. Neither team’s defense could stop the other.
Highland took the opening kickoff and promptly marched 74 yards in 12 plays. The Bulldogs overcame a holding penalty and converted a short fourth down-play to keep the drive alive. Porter got HHS on the scoreboard with one-yard run at the 8:09 mark of the opening quarter.
The Hearts responded immediately after returning the kickoff to their own 27-yard line. Pontious had a 10-yard run and connected with Waymoth for a nine-yard gain; and Keegan Baker had a third-down run to keep moving the chains. Then on the 10th play of that possession, Pontious lofted a pass to the end zone. Caden Walls made a nice catch to complete the 24-yard scoring play and knot the game at 7-7.
“We made a couple critical mistakes tonight, but we also did some good things,” Hefner said. “Tanner is still in the learning process, but I thought he was more accurate with his throws tonight. And I was proud of our kids. They kept battling back all night. I really appreciate how hard they play.”
But they just couldn’t get Highland’s offense off the field.
The Bulldogs responded with a 14-play, 79-yard march, aided by a 15-yard pass interference penalty on the Hearts. Wuebbels completed three passes, including two more to Altadonna, and ran for 21 more yards, including a five-yard scamper on fourth down for the touchdown.
Not to be out-down, Effingham came right back with a 16-play, 80-yard drive that consumed 8:13 off the clock. Westendorf carried the ball seven times for 31 yards and Pontious completed passes to Armando Estrada and Westendorf to keep the drive going.
On the final play, Pontious tried to connect with Waymoth at the goal line. The ball glanced off his hands, but right into the arms of Walls, who secured it for a five-yard scoring play that tied the game at 14-14.
Even though the final margin was 21 points, the Hearts had their chances. They had the ball for more than 28½ of the 48 minutes and ran 18 more plays. But of their five possessions in the second half, three ended with turnovers and another on a fourth down quarterback sack.
Offensively, Effingham gained 340 yards, with 236 of those coming on the ground. Westendorf led the way with 101 yards on 24 carries. Pontious added 77 yards on 21 carries and Baker finished with 59 yards on 12 attempts.
“Offensively, we blocked them pretty well tonight,” Hefner noted. “I will always think we should be able to run the football. We put in a couple new wrinkles tonight so Tanner could have a few more options to run the ball. And John and Keegan both do a good job.”
Pontious finished 8-for-12 passing for 94 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
The Bulldogs finished with 374 yards and were more balanced. They ran for 181 yards and added another 193 through the air. Porter ran for 82 yards and Wuebbels had 80 more. Wuebbels completed 14-of-18 passes, with Altdonna hauling in eight of those for 116 yards.
“They’re very big and very good up front,” Hefner said. “That was a big part of it tonight. If you have to commit more people to stop the run, it makes you more vulnerable in the passing game. We also couldn’t get any pressure on the quarterback, so when you bring extra people, that again makes you vulnerable to other things.”
The Bulldogs, who finished 5-4 on the season, are probably a lock to make the postseason playoffs. For the Hearts, who dropped to 4-5, it’s now a “wait and see” situation.
For the first time ever, some teams with 4-5 records may qualify for a playoff berth due to the number of teams that either didn’t play at all or had to forfeit games due to COVID. Because of Effingham’s tough schedule, they have accumulated a large number of playoff points, which could result in a trip to the Class 4A playoffs.
“I like our chances, but we’ll see,” Hefner said. “Some think we’re solidly in, but if a couple teams got some crazy wins, all of sudden you’re out. It’s just a waiting game.”
The pairings will be announced by the IHSA tonight (Saturday).
Friday night’s game was also the final regular season game for Effingham’s nine seniors -- Noah Jones, Keegan Baker, Max Nelson, Damon Kalber, Edgar Castillo, Dalton Fox, Cohen Woods, Chase Kiefer and Emma Kessler.
“It’s always a bittersweet night,” Hefner admitted. “It’s tough to say goodbye to these kids. They have meant a lot to our program. I appreciate the time, effort and commitment they’ve put in. It’s not the year any of us hoped for, but I really appreciate everything they’ve done.”
