Hearts' Comeback Falls Just Short in Contest at Breese Mater Dei

The Effingham Hearts staged a major comeback, but dug themselves too large an early hole and lost a tough 27-26 game to the Mater Dei Knights Friday night in Breese. The game was heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. Videos will be available the first of the week.

Effingham lost four fumbles and threw an interception, but still almost pulled the game out. The Hearts were down 27-0 with 3:15 left in the first half, but outscored the Knights 26-0 from that point. The miscues, though, along with a missed field goal and two blocked extra points, made the loss tough to swallow.

Effingham finally got on the board with less than a minute left in the first half on a 17-yard touchdown run up the middle by junior quarterback Landon Wolfe. Danny Hortenstine's kick made it 27-7 and the Hearts finally had some momentum.

That momentum continued into the second half when Terrence Hill scored from 23 yards out and from 37 yards out to trim the lead to 27-20. A fourth quarter pick from the 25 yard line by Kendall Ballman pulled the Hearts within 27-26 with 5:24 remaining in the game, but the extra point blocked and the Hearts could not mount another scoring attack. A key play is when Wolfe veered out of bounds just past the first down marker to stop the clock on fourth down. The official, though, ruled Wolfe went out of bounds just before he reached the marker and with no time outs left, that ended the game.

Another point of concern for the Hearts was a lack of success in the passing game. Effingham threw for just 39 yards, with one interception on a ball thrown by backup quarterback Nate Schackelford. Wolfe was 5 for 18 for 39 yards, while Schackelford finished oh for two with the interception.

The running game (translate that Terrence Hill) ran for 252 yards and two touchdowns on 43 carries, but Hill had some fumbles that came at crucial moments of the game and that will need to get straightened out.

Logan Smith punted three times for 112 yards, while Danny Hortenstine delivered three kickoffs that generated 142 yards.

Mater Dei quarterback A.J. Albers threw for 181 yards and a touchdown, completing nine of 19 attempts. 

Effingham rang up 16 first downs, 12 in the second half. Mater Dei only registered eight first downs in the game. The Hearts ran 51 plays to 34 for Mater Dei.

The contest was the season opener for both teams. The Hearts open Apollo Conference play next Friday night, taking on the Tornadoes in Taylorville. The Knights are home again to Alton Marquette.