VIDEO: Hearts' Winning Streak Comes to an End

The Mattoon Green Wave brought the Effingham Hearts' five-game winning streak to an end, downing the Hearts 40-34 at Mattoon's Homecoming game Friday night. The game was heard on your home for Hearts' football, 979XFM and www.979xfm.com.  

Mattoon's passing game could not be stopped, as Green Wave junior quarterback Braden Smith completed 20 of 24 pass attempts for 357 yards and two touchdowns.

Mattoon scored on their opening possession and then pounced on a Hearts' fumble at their own 30 and turned that into a score, so the Hearts were down 14-0 in the first five minutes of the game. Those touchdowns included a five-yard reception by Payton Hartbank and a one-yard run by Smith.

The Hearts got on the board with 5:27 remaining in the second quarter at the end of a 10-play, 61-yard drive when quarterback Kevin Daugherty connected with tight end Carter Hayes for a nine-yard score to make it 14-6. Mattoon came right back, though, less than a minute later at the end of a 54-second drive that ended with a 63-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Harris to make it 21-6.

Effingham then scored two minutes later, capping a seven-play, 65-yard drive with a nine-yard touchdown run by Travis Durbin and Michael Carie's extra point to make it 21-13. The Hearts then scored with 9:08 left in the third quarter to finish a seven-play, 69-yard drive on Zach Miller's five-yard touchdown scamper to make it 21-19.

Mattoon responded with a 12-play, 68-yard drive to make it 28-19, but Effingham came back again with a three-play, 72-yard drive including a 54-yard touchdown run by Billy Arndt to make it 28-26 with 3:55 left in the third quarter. Mattoon came right back again, scoring with 1:45 left in the period on a four-yard run by Smith to make it 34-26, but Effingham had one rally left in them, scoring on Miller's eight-yard touchdown run and then tying the game on Billy Arndt's two-point conversion run to make it 34-34 with 9:37 remaining in the game.

Mattoon just couldn't be stopped, though, as they staged a seven-play, 64-yard drive culminating in a seven-yard touchdown run to move back ahead 40-34 with 2:05 remaining. The Green Wave, however, missed on their conversion and the Hearts had the chance to tie the game or take the lead. Instead, the first pass from scrimmage was intercepted by Mattoon and that was the ballgame.

Effingham rolled up 356 rushing yards and added 50 passing yards for 406 yards rushing and receiving. The Hearts picked up 23 first downs, 20 on the ground. Mattoon generated 110 yards rushing to go with the passing yards for a total of 467 yards rushing and receiving and 28 first downs.

Despite a slow start, Zach Miller finished with 163 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 26 carries to bring his touchdown total to 18 for the season. Billy Arndt rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown on just eight carries, and Travis Durbin gained 61 yards on 11 carries including a touchdown. Kevin Daugherty completed four of eight passes for 50 yards and a touchdown to go with one interception. Arndt had two catches for 42 yards and Hayes caught the nine-yard touchdown pass.

Mattoon's receiving corps had quite a night; Malik Joyner eight catches for 179 yards, Hartbank seven catches for 75 yards and a touchdown, Harris two catches for 70 yards and a touchdown, Germaine Armstrong two catches for 21 yards, and Michael Smith a 12-yard reception. Armstrong rushed 20 times for 88 yards and two touchdowns, while Smith carried for only six net yards but those included two touchdown runs.

Travis Durbin had 10 tackles, two solos, to lead Effingham, while Drew Vasquez had nine tackles, four solos. Joe Nieman and Billy Arndt each had seven tackles, three solos apiece, and Blake White, Griffin Paige and Evan Boggs each had six stops, three solos for Boggs and two each for White and Paige. Khole Moran, Kevin Daugherty and Carter Hayes each had five tackles, three solos for Daugherty and two for Hayes, while Michael Carie had four tackles, two solos, and Carter Kistler registered three stops. Wyatt Kahley and Jordan Coleman each had two tackles, one solo apiece, and Noah Lohman, Hunter Diveley and Alex Ramos each had a tackle.

Drew Vasquez, Michael Carie and Zach Miller each came up with an interception.

The Hearts are now 5-2 on the season, and 3-1 in the Apollo Conference, tied with Mattoon, Mt. Zion and Taylorville. Effingham still needs a win to assure themselves a playoff berth and come home for their final two games of the regular season, ending conference play against Mt. Zion next Friday and then taking on Mahomet-Seymour.