Football Hearts Post First Win of Season; High School Football Scores for Friday 9-7-2018

The Effingham Hearts earned their first taste of victory this season Friday night, defeating the Mt. Zion Braves in Apollo Conference action, 41-14

The Military Appreciation Night event was heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. 

Effingham scored on its first possession of the night after blocking a punt and recovering the ball on Mt. Zion's 13 yard line. Four plays later, Kendall Ballman carried the ball in from the one and Beau Hefner kicked the extra point to make it 7-0 with 9:15 left in the first quarter.

Mt. Zion put together a good drive in response, but missed a 32-yard field goal try with 6:02 left in the period.

Effingham made it 13-0 at the end of an eight-play 74-yard drive when Logan Brown carried the ball in from the 23 with 42 seconds left in the period.

The celebration was short-lived, though, as the Braves scored on a 62-yard run by Sage Davis to pull within 13-6 at the end of the first period.

Effingham bounced back with 7:16 left in the second quarter at the end of a 10-play, 65-yard drive when Collin Waymoth caught a five-yard pass from Landon Wolfe and Beau Hefner's kick was good to make it 20-6.

Mt. Zion responded again, though, scoring with 2:47 left before halftime at the end of an 11-play, 76-yard drive on a pass to Jayse Booker and converted for two points to make it 20-14, and that was the score at halftime.

The Hearts owned the second half, however.

Effingham scored with 9:38 remaining in the third quarter to cap a six-play, 60-yard drive when Brown ran from 33 yards out for his second touchdown of the night and Hefner's kick was good to pull the Hearts ahead 27-14.

The Hearts scored two more touchdowns, both the results of miscues by the Braves. With 7:18 left in the game, the Hearts' Kaleb Kihne blocked a punt and carried it 22 yards to the end zone to make it 33-14, and then Brown capped an excellent night by intercepting a pass at the 40-yard line and running it back for a score which, when combined with a two-point conversion pass play to Kihne acccounted for the final score.

Effingham rolled up 375 yards rushing and receiving to 209 yards for Mt. Zion. Effingham ran 68 plays to 51 for the Braves. The Hearts rushed for 214 yards and passed for 161 yards. Effingham led in time of possession 27:25 to 20:35. Effingham also racked up 23 first downs to 10 for the Braves.

Effingham's Logan Brown had a breakout game for the Hearts, gaining 153 yards on 20 carries with two rushing touchdowns. Kendall Ballman rushed 14 times for 41 yards with one touchdown, and also had a strong game defensively and on special teams. Hearts' quarterback Landon Wolfe rushed seven times for 17 yards, but his strong suit was his quarterbacking, going 17 of 25 for 161 yards and a touchdown with one interception. Wolfe completed at least one pass to seven different receivers; Dylan Bushur five catches for 50 yards, Tristan Duncan four grabs for 37 yards, Cameron Kalber three grabs for 27 yards, Jacob Briggerman two catches for 27 yards, Kollin Waymoth one for five yards and a touchdown, Jett Gillum one for eight yards, and Jacob Stoneburner one for seven yards.

Mt. Zion utilized two quarterbacks; Ashton Summers going eight of 17 for 129 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Matt Carpenter was two for five for 13 yards.

As far as special teams are concerned, Ivan Angel kicked off seven times for 201yards; Ballman had a 34-yard kickoff return, and Dawson Whitten punted one time for 33 yards.

Effingham is now 1-2 on the season, while Mt. Zion falls to 2-1. Both teams are 1-1 in the Apollo Conference. 

Effingham begins a three-game road trip next Friday night, heading to Lincoln for conference play. We will have the game on 979XFM.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

(APOLLO CONFERENCE SCHOOLS IN CAPS):

EFFINGHAM 41, MT. ZION 14

TAYLORVILLE 41, CHARLESTON 13

MATTOON 47, LINCOLN 13

Mascoutah 21, MAHOMET-SEYMOUR 20

Red Hill 8, Olney Richland County 7

Newton 21, Casey-Westfield 7

Robinson 24, Flora 12

Arcola 54, Cumberland 35

Breese Mater Dei 47, Belleville Althoff 0

Pana 27, Gillespie 2

Vandalia 37, Greenville 21

Macomb 34, Farmer City-Blue Ridge 6

Clinton 23, Shelbyville 6

Paris 63, Lawrenceville 0

Cerro Gordo 21, Oblong 0

Murphysboro and Carterville were suspended with Murphysboro leading Carterville 13-7 with 10:55 remaining in the third quarter. The game will be resumed at 7pm Monday.