VIDEO: Hearts Come Back for Season Opening Win

What a difference a day makes.

Actually, less than 24 hours, as the Effingham Hearts, trailing 28-17 when play in their season opener was halted by lightning Friday night, bounced back to score 15 unanswered points Saturday afternoon and post a 32-28 season opening victory over the Mater Dei Knights at Breese. The contest...both days of it...was heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. 

There was just 4:02 left in the third quarter when the game resumed Saturday. The Hearts may have trailed by 11 at the time, but they had the Knights at second-and-15 on their own 14 yard line. Effingham forced a punt and got to start their drive on the Mater Dei 26 yard line. That led to a 28-yard field goal by Ivan Angel, his second of the game, to cut the lead to 28-20 with 37 seconds left in the period.

The Hearts scored again with 9:40 remaining at the end of a 75-yard drive when Nathan Shackelford connected with Parker Wolfe on a 65-yard touchdown pass. The run for two was unsuccessful, but Effingham had pulled to within 28-26. 

Less than three minutes later, Shackelford fired a 64-yard pass to Tristin Duncan for a touchdown with 7:06 left that gave the Hearts a 32-28 lead that proved to be the final margin in the game.

Photos by Gary Stanfield

Meanwhile, Effingham's defense was tremendously improved on Saturday, shutting out the Knights and recovering a fumble in the process.

Lightning delayed the start of Friday night's action by 40 minutes and then returned after halftime, forcing a delay in completing the game to Saturday.

The Hearts scored on their season-opening drive with Logan Brown carrying the ball in from three yards out and Beau Hefner kicking the extra point with 6:42 left in the opening quarter.

Mater Dei responded with a touchdown with 4:50 remaining in the opening period, but missed their extra point.

The Hearts extended their lead to 10-6 with 9:00 left in the second quarter on a 25-yard field goal by Angel, but the Knights responded with a score with 2:05 left before halftime and posted a two-point conversion to take their first lead of the night, 14-10.

Mater Dei scored with 10:00 left in the third quarter, but again failed on the conversion and the Knights led the Hearts 20-10.

Effingham scored on a beautiful 45-yard pass play from Shackelford to Duncan and Hefner kicked the extra point to pull within 20-17 with 8:23 left in the third quarter, but Mater Dei responded with a score on a pass play with 6:50 left in the period to extend their lead to 28-17.

Here are the numbers on the contest:

Effingham ran 67 plays, 34 in the first half, for 456 yards, 166 in the first half, 290 after intermission. The Hearts picked up 19 first downs, eight in the second half; 12 by passing, seven by rushing. Effingham rushed the ball 44 times for 143 yards, including one touchdown. Mater Dei ran 61 plays for 389 yards, 229 through the air, 160 on the ground, picking up 18 first downs.

For the Hearts, Shackelford attempted 23 passes and completed 15 for 313 yards and three touchdowns.

The rushing stats saw Logan Brown carry 17 times for 67 yards and a touchdown, Chase Woomer rush 15 times for 36 yards, Shackelford carry 10 times to 36 yards, Duncan carry once for one yard, and Luke Spencer rush once for three yards.

Duncan led the receiving corps with eight catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns, while Parker Wolfe had two receptions for 90 yards and a score, Jett Gillum had two catches for 13 yards, Chase Woomer caught a 31-yard pass, Cameron Kalber grabbed a pass for eight yards, and Kollin Waymoth had a catch for no gain.

As far as special teams stats, Dawson Whitten punted four times for 132 yards, a 33-yard-per-punt average with a long punt of 39 yards. Wolfe returned a punt for eight yards. Angel had six kickoffs for 269 yards, with a long kickoff of 54 yards, and Beau Hefner had a 51-yard kickoff. Woomer returned three kickoffs for 46 yards and Gabe Kihne returned one for seven yards.

Here's the tackle sheet: Austin Herboth six, five solos; Alex Baughman four solos; Mason Hasty seven, five solos, forced fumble; Woomer two solos; Brown six solos; Logan Arend three, two solos; Parker Wolfe four, three solos; Whitten three, two solos; Hayvin Prather two, fumble recovery; Jacob Stoneburner, two, one for loss; Nathan Thompson one; Gunnar Franklin two; Trevon Benavides one; Spencer two; Gillum one, sack. 

For Mater Dei, Reed Braundmeier attempted 32 passes and completed 16 for 229 yards and a touchdown. Zach Napovanice had six catches for nine yards, Mitchell Haake had seven catches for 151 yards and a touchdown, and Ben Kassen had three receptions for 69 yards. Napovanice rushed 21 times for 164 yards and two scores and Braundmeier rushed eight times for -4 yards and a touchdown.

Effingham will next head to Klosterman Field Friday for their home opener and Apollo Conference opener, playing host to Lincoln. The Railsplitters lost their opener to Bartonville Limestone Friday, 14-0. Hear the contest on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. Kickoff will be at 7pm.

Watch for video of the Hearts' two-day win shortly.