VIDEO: Hearts Still Winless After Loss to Centralia

The Effingham Hearts remain winless after a 28-6 loss to the Centralia Orphans in high school football action Friday night.

The game was heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. 

The contest was scoreless during the first quarter, but Centralia finished off a 10-play, 78-yard drive with 11:11 left in the second quarter on a 24-yard touchdown run by Matese Scott.  The kick was good and the Orphans held a 7-0 lead.

Centralia scored again with 2:20 left before halftime to conclude a five-play, 87-yard drive on a 51-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Brodric Green to sophomore receiver Shandon Webster.  A bad snap on the extra point try led to an unsuccessful two-point conversion pass but the Orphans led 13-0.

Photo by Gary Stanfield of Riviera Records in Effingham. Check out Gary's work by clicking here.

Centralia extended the advantage to 21-0 with 8:50 remaining in the third quarter on a 48-yard touchdown run by Scott to cap a four-play, 80-yard drive.  The run for two was successful.

The Hearts got on the board with 5:01 left in the third period on a one-yard touchdown run by Travis Durbin to complete a nine-play, 47-yard drive.  The kick was unsuccessful but the Hearts were back within 21-6.

Centralia scored one more time, though, with 6:12 left in the game on a monstrous 17-play, 70-yard drive that took 7:13 off the clock.  Scott took the ball in from the four and the kick was good to account for the 28-6 final score.

Centralia dominated the statistics.  The Orphans had 23 first downs to 13 for Effingham, gained 282 rushing yards to 99 for Effingham, and passed for 215 yards to 174 for Effingham, meaning 497 total yards for Centralia to 273 yards for the Hearts.

Centralia ran 72 plays to 52 for the Hearts.

Junior Matese Scott was a force for Centralia, carrying the football 39 times for 258 yards and three touchdowns.  Brodric Green was 15 of 24 passing for 215 yards and one touchdown.  Ryan Shipley caught six passes for 96 yards and Webster had four receptions for 78 yards.

For Effingham, Zach Miller and Travis Durbin teamed up for 100 yards rushing, 51 for Miller on 11 carries and 49 for Durbin on 11 carries including the touchdown run.  Dylan Wolff in his first varsity start at quarterback threw for 174 yards, completing eight of 21 pass attempts, but throwing three interceptions.  Wolff got the start after Kevin Daugherty's collarbone was broken on the final offensive play of the game last week against Paxton-Buckley-Loda.

Marcus Robinson caught three for 72 yards including a great 43-yard reception featuring a nice run after the catch.

Matt Wohltman had three catches for 52 yards, Carter Hayes a 34-yard grab, and Zach Miller a six-yard catch.

Michael Carie had two punts for 65 yards and two kickoffs for 113 yards, Tyler Myers had three kickoff returns for 93 yards and Zach Miller had two returns for 50 yards, and Zach Miller recovered a fumble.

Travis Durbin had 13 tackles to lead the way for Effingham including four solos.  Drew Vasquez, Peyton Bushue, Noah Hagen, Billy Arndt and Carter Hayes each had seven stops, two solos for Vasquez, one for Bushue, two for Hagen and three for Arndt.  Zach Miller, Trent Barnhart and Brandon Loy each had six tackles, one solo for Miller and one for Loy.  Matt Wohltman and Wyatt Kahley each had five tackles, one solo for Wohltman.  Marcus Robinson and Griffin Paige each had four tackles, four solos for Robinson.  Evan Boggs had three tackles, one solo.  Blaine Koester and Trevor Murphy each had two tackles, both solos for Koester.  Tim Ahillen, Tyler Myers, Dylan Wolff and Jesse Mosby each had one tackle, solos for Myers, Wolff and Mosby.

Photo by Gary Stanfield of Riviera Records in Effingham. Check out Gary's work by clicking here.

Effingham falls to 0-3 while Centralia is now 3-0.  The Hearts play their first road game next Friday in their Apollo Conference opener at Charleston.  Kickoff is at 7pm.  Hear the action on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com.