Hearts Lose Wild One at Centralia

VIDEO UNDER STORY

In a wild and wooly affair, the Centralia Orphans defeated the Effingham Hearts 44-36 in high school football action Saturday afternoon.  The game was heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. 

Effingham took a 7-0 lead with 5:13 left in the first quarter on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Nathan Vail to Carter Hayes and Zach Miller's extra-point kick. 

There was no further scoring until a Miller punt from the Hearts' goal line went just 16 yards, leading to the Orphans' 10-yard touchdown pass from Dyman Sodsaikitch to Xavier Green with 9:10 remaining in the second quarter.  The Centralia try for two was unsuccessful, though, and the Hearts still led 7-6. 

Effingham extended the lead to 14-6 with 3:43 left in the second quarter on an 11-play, 69-yard drive ending with Vail's five-yard touchdown run and Miller's kick.  The joy was short-lived, though, as Rashad Campbell returned the kickoff 84 yards for a score and the two-point conversion tied the game 14-14.

Effingham then staged a 12-play, 60-yard drive that took the remainder of the quarter, highlighted when Caydin Vaughn took it in from 15 yards out as the halftime horn sounded followed by a Miller kick to give the Hearts a 21-14 lead in the locker room.

(HEARTS' SENIOR RUNNING BACK CAYDIN VAUGHN HAD A BREAKOUT GAME SATURDAY, RUSHING 20 TIMES FOR 154 YARDS AND A TOUCHDOWN)

The second half saw the emergence of Rashad Campbell who did not carry the ball for Centralia in the first half but toted the ball 14 times after intermission for 163 yards.

The Orphans scored on a 16-yard run by Campbell and then converted for two to take their first lead of the game 22-21 with 9:31 left in the third quarter.  Centralia got the ball right back on a Hearts' miscue and Sodsaikitch carried it into the end zone with 7:20 left in the third period to move in front 28-21. 

Effingham bounced right back, though, staging an 18-play, 73-yard drive that took 7:58 off the clock, capped by Vail's one-yard touchdown run and Miller's kick to tie things at 28-28 with 11:22 remaining in the game.

Centralia scored again with 10:21 remaining on a four-play, 63-yard drive capped by Sodsaikitch's touchdown run, but Effingham came back one more time on a 37-yard touchdown run by Vaughn and Miller's run for two to tie the game at 36-36.

Centralia scored the winning touchdown with 7:46 remaining in the game on a four-yard pass reception by Matese Scott.

The 80 points scored by the two teams was just the tip of the iceberg in this game. 

The Hearts ran 84 offensive plays to 48 for Centralia.  Effingham generated 497 yards of offense to 380 yards for the Orphans.  EHS produced 29 first downs to 19 for Centralia.  The Hearts picked 400 yards rushing to 195 yards for Centralia.  Still, the Hearts ended up on the short end on the scoreboard.

(HEARTS' SENIOR RECEIVER DREW LEVITT)

There are several factors.  The biggest one is the 84-yard kickoff return for touchdown produced by Centralia's Campbell.  A short punt gave Centralia tremendous field position.  An interception set up another Orphans' drive.

The biggest factor, though, literally and figuratively, was Campbell.  He didn't have a single carry in the first part of the game as Centralia passed the ball almost exclusively.  The Hearts led 21-14 at halftime.  When Campbell started working in tandem with Sodsaikitch in the second half, though, things changed.  After having -13 yards rushing in the first half, Centralia generated 208 yards rushing after intermission and Campbell was responsible for 163 of those yards.  Campbell picked up those yards in just 14 carries.  Sodsaikitch rushed for 34 yards on 13 carries.

For the Hearts, though, there were many heroes on offense.  The ballcarrying duo of Logan Howell and Caydin Vaughn had massive games.  Howell carried 19 times for 184 yards, while Vaughn had 20 carries for 154 yards and a touchdown.  Zach Miller carried four times for 13 yards and Levi Michael rushed three times for three yards. 

(HEARTS HUDDLE UP TO HEAR FROM HEAD COACH MIKE McDONALD)

Hearts quarterback Vail had a busy day, as well.  He carried the ball 20 times for 46 yards and two touchdowns, and was seven of 18 passing with one touchdown and one interception.  He passed for 97 yards.  Carter Hayes caught two passes for 28 yards and a touchdown, Drew Levitt caught three passes for 49 yards, Miller had a catch for 14 yards, and Zach Bloemker caught a six-yard pass.

(HEARTS' SENIOR QUARTERBACK NATHAN VAIL THREW FOR 97 YARDS AND A TOUCHDOWN SATURDAY)

For Centralia, Sodsaikitch completed 11 of 20 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns but also threw two interceptions.  Dirk Levitt and Cody Sennett pick off those interceptions for the Hearts and Effingham's Bill Arndt recovered a Centralia fumble.

Centralia is 3-0 on the season, while the Hearts' fell to 0-3.  Effingham finally gets to play their home opener and Apollo Conference opener next Friday night against Charleston.  Kickoff is 7pm at Klosterman Field.  Hear the game on 979XFM and online worldwide by clicking the Listen Live button at the top right of the page.

VIDEO: EHS vs. Centralia

Below are a couple of highlights from the game, including Rashad Campbell's leap over Cody Sennett, and Effingham's double-pitch play to take the lead into halftime.