By Steve Raymond
ET Sport Report
The Effingham defense didn’t let an explosive Mahomet-Seymour team run the ball or pass the ball downfield effectively.
But the Bulldogs, a team many believe can challenge for the Class 5A state title this year, used their athleticism and speed to turn short screen passes into big plays repeatedly.
MSHS, ranked No. 3 in the early polls, used a screen pass to score on 27, 50 and 62-yard plays, en route to a 35-14 win at home Friday night over a Hearts team that turned in a very competitive performance.
“I love our kids. I love the way they play hard and compete,” EHS coach Brett Hefner said following the game. “I doubt anybody in the state has played two tougher teams than we have to open the season. But I really like some things I’m seeing. I think we’re close to going on a roll.”
The Bulldogs racked up 407 total yards, with 325 of those coming through the air. Of that, 196 yards were amassed on the simple screen pass.
“We played our tails off defensively,” Heffner noted. “I liked a whole lot of things I saw tonight. When you can’t run the ball or pass the ball, you run screens. We have to recognize those quicker.”
After punting on its first possession, MSHS got on the board midway through the opening quarter. The Bulldogs put together a 12-play, 86-yard drive. Five running plays gained just eight yards, but senior quarterback Wyatt Bohm connected with Valient Walsh and Quenton Rogers twice. Both passes to Rogers were short dump passes, but effective.
Rogers turned the first one into a 20-yard pick-up and the second was a 27-yard catch and run that put the Bulldogs on the scoreboard at the 5:09 mark.
Offensively for Effingham, some improvements were seen, but work is still needed. Over half of their possessions were five plays or less. The Hearts had the ball six times in the opening half and ran a total of 26 plays, gaining only 51 total yards and earning just three first downs.
“I did see some good things, but there’s a lot of things we still need to clean up,” Hefner admitted. “I thought we executed a little better tonight, but our quarterback still needs time to make plays. He kept some plays alive and our receivers caught the ball better. But there’s still plenty to clean up.”
By Steve Raymond
New Report Staff
From No. 2 in Class 2A to No. 3 in Class 5A.
No, the Effingham football schedule does not get any easier this week.
The Hearts, who dropped an 18-0 decision to perennial 2A powerhouse Decatur St. Teresa in the season opener at home, will now travel to Mahomet-Seymour to face a highly experienced and explosive Bulldogs team.
“They’ve got just about everybody back,” EHS coach Brett Hefner noted. “They were an easy pick to win our (Apollo) conference. And many think they’ll make a run at the 5A state title. They’ve a very good team.”
The Bulldogs gained a measure of revenge in their season opener. After falling to Morton in the 5A quarterfinals last year, Mahomet-Seymour posted a 51-14 whipping of the Potters this time around.
Led by senior quarterback Wyatt Bohm and senior receiver-runner-kick returner Valient Walsh, the Bulldogs put up 338 total yards and scored at least once in every quarter against Morton.
Bohm completed 17-of-26 passes – connecting with six different receivers – for 228 yards and four touchdowns. He threw one interception.
Walsh caught five of those passes for 66 yards and two touchdowns, plus he had a rushing TD and added a 92-yard kickoff return for a fourth score. Fellow senior receiver Quenton Rogers also hauled in five receptions for 78 yards and a touchdown.
“They like to throw it around,” Hefner said. “They have their same quarterback and two outstanding receivers back from last year. They’ll still run it, too. But they like to get their athletes involved and let them make big plays.”
Something the Hearts were not able to do against St. Teresa.
The Effingham Flaming Hearts finally notched that elusive 10th win Tuesday night and it came in a big way.
The Hearts raced to a 25-2 lead after eight minutes and finished with a 56-point win, 80-24, at Central A&M in Moweaqua.
Garrett Wolfe scored nine points and both Jett Volpi and Brayden Pals added eight, helping EHS break out to the commanding lead.
And it only got worse from there. Andrew Donaldson came off the bench to knock down three from behind the arc in the second quarter and Volpi scored six more, as the Hearts built a 48-11 cushion by intermission.
Pals, Wolfe and Volpi combined to score 54 points in the contest. Pals finished with 19 points, while Wolfe scored 18 and Volpi added 17.
The Hearts, who improved to 10-19 on the season, will play their regular season finale Thursday night at home against Mt. Zion.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sport Report
“We’ll be fine.”
That was the message Brett Hefner conveyed to his team after Friday night’s 18-0 setback to Decatur St. Teresa in the season opener played on the new turf on Jack Klosterman Field at Washington Savings Bank Stadium.
Defensively, the Hearts turned in a strong overall performance against a Bulldog squad most believe will be ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in Class 2A.
Offensively, Effingham has work to do.
“We’re a work in progress offensively,” Coach Hefner noted. “You can’t just run the ball, run the ball, run the ball. At some point, you have to make plays and we’re still trying to figure out where our explosive plays are going to come from.”
The Hearts gained just 154 total yards and 49 of those came on just two plays – a 33-yard burst by John Westendorf late in the first half and a 16-yard completion from quarterback Tanner Pontious to Caden Walls in the fourth quarter. Other than that, there weren’t many holes to run through and Pontious had virtually no time to throw when he dropped back to pass.
“We got whipped up front,” Hefner said. “We just didn’t block very well, but there are some things we can clean up and improve on. And when we did have chances to make plays, we didn’t get it done. Against good teams like this, you won’t have many chances to make plays. And when those chances are there, you have to take advantage. We didn’t do that.”
The Bulldogs defense recorded what proved to be the only touchdown they needed midway through the first period. A Pontious pass was intercepted by linebacker Christion Harper, who avoided one tackler and raced 31 yards for the score, giving St. Teresa a 6-0 lead at the 7:44 mark.
Effingham’s best two offensive possessions were in the first half. The first was a 12-play, eight-minute drive that started at the 12-yard line. Despite being deep in its own territory, the Hearts went for it on two consecutive fourth down plays. Pontious used a quarterback sneak both times to keep the drive alive. One the third fourth down call, sophomore running back Weldon Dunston was stopped short, giving the Bulldogs possession at the EHS 44.
The Bulldogs got to the 14, but the Hearts defense held.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
There were 120 offensive plays ran Friday night.
But two of them were easily the most pivotal.
In real time, they happened about a half an hour apart.
In football game time, just three minutes.
A long touchdown pass in the closing seconds of the first half and a pass interception on the sixth play of the third quarter proved to be the catalyst for Highland and the downfall for Effingham.
The Bulldogs used those two plays to break open a tie game and then roll to a 42-21 victory over the Hearts on Senior Night and the regular season finale at Jake Klosterman Field.
After the Hearts scored with just 1:14 left in the opening half, it appeared the two teams would head to the locker room with the score knotted at 14-14.
But Highland had other ideas.
The Bulldogs took over the ensuing possession at their own 20-yard line and immediately went to the air. Junior quarterback Brent Wuebbels completed 3-of-5 passes to move the ball to midfield.
And then on a second down call – and only 20 seconds showing on the clock – Wuebbels threw a perfect strike to receiver Cade Altadonna, who had gotten behind the EHS secondary. Altadonna caught the ball in-stride and raced untouched down the sideline to complete the 50-yard scoring play and put the Bulldogs on top to stay, 21-14.
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