Hearts Fall to 0-2 w/Loss at Paxton

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The Effingham Hearts fell to 0-2 with a 30-22 football loss to Paxton-Buckley-Loda Friday night.  The game at Paxton was heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com.

PBL opened the scoring on a 36-yard field goal by Jonah Wilson with 4:53 left in the first quarter and then extended the lead to 9-0 with a touchdown run by quarterback Weston Weber with 1:54 left in the period, and then made it 16-0 with a 26-yard touchdown run by Drew Schrodt with 1:18 left in the first quarter after recovering a fumble.

The Hearts made some noise in the second quarter, though, to climb back into the game.  Effingham staged an eight-play, 55-yard drive capped by Levi Michael covering a fumble into the end zone and then cashed in on a 75-yard touchdown pass from Nathan Vail to Logan Howell and the Hearts were back within 16-14.

(LOGAN HOWELL CHECKS TO SEE WHETHER THE WAY IS CLEAR ON HIS WAY TO THE END ZONE WITH A 75-YARD TOUCHDOWN RECEPTION)

(Photo courtesy of Gary Stanfield of Riveria Records. Check out some of Gary's amazing work here.)

PBL responded with a 10-play, 51-yard drive ending when Jesse Houtzel scored from four yards out to push the Panther lead to 23-14 at intermission.

Neither team scored in the third quarter, but PBL scored with 9:26 left in the fourth period at the end of a six-play, 40-yard drive when Lewis scored from 11 yards out and that pushed the lead to 30-14. 

The Hearts weren't done, though.  Howell scored from four yards out to make it 30-22 with 6:27 remaining.  The Hearts then executed a perfect onside kick and got the ball back, but could not get closer.                                                                                                         

Penalties were a big problem, with the Hearts being whistled for 14 infractions for 110 yards, but PBL was called for nine violations totaling 50 yards.

PBL rolled up 293 rushing yards to 106 for Effingham, and gained 22 yards through the air as against 133 passing yards for the Hearts although all of Effingham's aerial yardage came in the first half.

(EFFINGHAM'S SCOTT DEUNK WRAPS UP A P-B-L BALLCARRIER)

(Photo courtesy of Gary Stanfield of Riveria Records. Check out some of Gary's amazing work here.)

Hearts' quarterback Nathan Vail gained 69 rushing yards and completed four of 21 passes for 133 yards.  Drew Levitt caught two passes for 41 yards, Carter Hayes had a 17-yard reception and Howell had the 75-yard touchdown catch.  Howell carried for 25 yards on eight carries including the four-yard touchdown run, Zach Miller had five rushes for seven yards, Marcus Robinson rushed once for four yards, and Levi Michael got one rushing yard on the fumble recovery in the end zone for a touchdown.

Jesse Houtzel led PBL in rushing with 156 yards gained on 27 carries.

Levi Michael recorded 21 tackles and Travis Durbin had 20 stops to lead the Hearts while Cody Sennett had 12 tackles.  Also for Effingham: Evan Boggs seven, Brandon Loy and Taylor Claar five each, Scott Deunk and Zach Miller four each, Zach Wilson and Carter Hayes three apiece, Dirk Levitt, Marcus Robinson, Noah Hagen and Caydin Vaughn two each, and Khole Moran and Andy Lustig one apiece.

(EFFINGHAM WAS WELL-REPRESENTED AT THE GAME, WITH A LARGE CONTINGENT OF FANS MAKING THE LONG JOURNEY TO PAXTON)

(Photo courtesy of Gary Stanfield of Riveria Records. Check out some of Gary's amazing work here.)

PBL improved to 2-0 with the victory while the Hearts will still be looking for their first victory next Friday night at Centralia.  Game time will be 7pm and the contest will be heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com.