Hearts Stand Alone Atop Apollo After Win at Mt. Zion

The Effingham Hearts stand alone atop the Apollo Conference after defeating the Mt. Zion Braves 37-19 Friday night. The game at Mt. Zion was heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. 

The Hearts amassed 479 yards in total offense, 267 yards in the first half. The breakdown was 338 yards on the ground and 141 yards through the air. That compares to 246 total yards for the Braves; 199 passing yards and just 47 rushing yards. The Hearts also had an 11-minute edge in time of possession.

Effingham tallied 27 first downs to 11 for Mt. Zion.

Effingham is 2-1 on the campaign, 2-0 in Apollo Conference, while Mt. Zion suffered their first loss after two wins and are 1-1 in the Apollo.

Effingham got the ball to start the game and took it 80 yards on 15 plays to score with 5:25 left in the period on a seven-yard pass play from Landon Wolfe to Logan Smith. Danny Hortenstine's kick made it 7-0.

The Hearts extended the lead to 13-0 with 10:20 remaining in the second quarter on a nine-play, 57-yard drive ended when Terrence Hill scored on a three-yard run. The kick was no good, but the Hearts had some breathing room.

Mt. Zion scored on a 10-play, 65-yard drive with 6:10 left before halftime on an 18-yard pass play and a good extra point to make it 13-7.

Effingham came back, though, to score with four seconds remaining before the half on a four-yard run by Hill to cap an eight-play, 73-yard drive with Hortenstine's kick making it 20-7 headed to the locker rooms.

Mt. Zion came out to start the second half completing a 65-yard touchdown pass on their first play from scrimmage to pull within 20-13, but that's as close as they would come.

Effingham scored with 10:21 left in the third on a four-yard run by Hill and Hortenstine's kick made it 27-13 and the Hearts scored again with 1:00 left in the third on a 53-yard run by Hill and Hortenstine's kick to push the lead to 34-13.

Hortenstine did some more scoring with 7:06 left in the game on a 20-yard field goal to make it 37-13. 

Mt. Zion did manage another touchdown with 3:59 remaining to account for the final score.

The Hearts' Terrence Hill had another big game, gaining 281 yards on 32 carries and scoring four touchdowns.

Dante Latham came in and spelled Hill later in the contest, gaining 49 yards on 13 carries.

Quarterback Landon Wolfe had a good night, going 13 for 18 for 141 yards and one touchdown. Logan Smith had five catches for 80 yards, including a seven-yard touchdown reception. Jacob Miller had three catches for 29 yards.

Danny Hortenstine had 293 yards on seven kickoffs. Logan Smith's only punt was good for 45 yards.

The Hearts defense was just as good as ever, allowing Sage Davis and Andew Schollmeier, who each ran for more than 100 yards against Lincoln, to combine for just 41 yards.

Effingham plays its first home game of the season next Friday night, hosting the Lincoln Railsplitters, new to the Apollo. Game time is 7pm. It will be Staff Appreciation Night, very well received last season, where each player will choose someone on the Unit 40 staff to be honored.

Here are the scores from Friday night:

EFFINGHAM 37, Mt. Zion 19

Taylorville 55, Charleston 20

Mattoon 34, Lincoln 27

Mahomet-Seymour 22, Mascoutah 21

Macomb 34, Farmer City Blue Ridge 7

Belleville Althoff 33, Breese Mater Dei 0

Columbia 54, Salem 14

Newton 49, Lawrenceville 21

Cumberland 44, Niantic Sangamon Valley 6

Argenta-Oreana 46, Martinsville 26

Pana 49, Gillespie 6

Greenville 40, Vandalia 36

Flora 34, Casey-Westfield 7

Marshall 39, Robinson 7

Bethalto Civic Memorial 20, Olney Richland County 6

Shelbyville 58, Sullivan Okaw Valley 0