Hearts Punch Playoff Ticket; Win Streak at Six

The Effingham Hearts officially punched their playoff ticket Friday night, blanking the Charleston Trojans 28-0. 

The contest at Charleston was heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. 

The win pushed the Hearts' record to 6-1, guaranteeing them a spot in the post-season. They've won six straight games, and remain undefeated in the Apollo Conference at 5-0. Effingham has one remaining conference game, hosting Mattoon next Friday night at Klosterman Field.

Effingham put themselves in good position almost out of the gate, scoring on their first two possessions. The Hearts got the ball on Charleston's 42-yard line on their first possession. Effingham lost a yard on their first play, a run by Terrence Hill. On the next play, though, Hill ran 43 yards for a touchdown and Danny Hortenstine extra point kick made it 7-0.

The Hearts got the ball back about one minute later on Charleston's 46-yard line. 10 plays later, Hill crossed the goal line from the three and Hortenstine's kick made it 14-0.

Just before halftime, the Hearts got the ball at their own 17-yard line. Nine plays later, quarterback Landon Wolfe hit Jordan McCabe with a 49-yard pass to make it 21-0 after the extra point.

The Hearts got their final score with 1:06 left in the third quarter, on a 28-yard pass play from Wolfe to McCabe and Hortenstine again kicked the extra point to account for the final score.

The Trojans' best chance to score occurred right before halftime. They had the ball at the Hearts' 10-yard line. Charleson tried three passing plays to the end zone, all of which were knocked away by the Hearts secondary. On the fourth play, the Hearts sacked Charleston quarterback Seth Higgins.

The Hearts picked up 17 first downs to six for Charleston. 14 of those were gained on the ground, three through the air. Effingham ran the ball 52 times, 26 each half, for a total of 234 yards. Effingham tried 15 passes, and connected on six of them for 118 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. 

Meanwhile, Charleston ran just 27 running plays for 46 net yards. The Trojans completed six of 22 pass attempts for 106 yards.

The Hearts got 352 net yards to 106 for the Trojans, and had a sizable edge in time of possession; 30:47 to 17:13. 

Terrence Hill had another excellent night running the football for the Hearts, gaining 191 yards on 32 carries and scoring twice. Hill now has 21 touchdowns on the season and is within range of the single season rushing record of more than 1,800 yards set by Zach Miller in 2014. Also, Landon Wolfe rushed twice for -3 yards, Nate Shackelford rushed seven times for 15 yards, Donte Latham carried nine times for 29 yards, Lucas Vasquez one for four yards, and Dawson Whitten -2 yards.

Landon Wolfe was 4 of 11 passing for 90 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. Nathan Shackelford was 2 for 4 with 28 yards. McCabe had the two touchdown catches and four receptions in all for 92 yards. Hill caught a six-yard pass, and Paul Smith had a 20-yard reception.

The Hearts got five kickoffs for 249 yards from Hortenstine, while Logan Smith punted three times for 130 yards.

Alec Morrissey grabbed two interceptions, and Kody Line had one pick. Kendall Ballman had a 32-yard kickoff return.

As far as tackles, Kaleb Kihne one; Jarrett Jones three, two solos; Lucas Vasquez one; Parker Seachrist five, four solos; Frank Schneiderjon three, two solos; Kendall Ballman--three, all solos; Braden Hasty--six, five solos plus a sack for an extras eight-yard loss; Jordan McCabe--one solo; Kody Line--two solos; Noah Spencer--four, two solos, plus one for a one-yard loss; Matthew Robinson--two, one solo; Logan Brown--one; Hayvin Prather--two, one for a four yard loss; Mason Hasty--one solo.

Cam McDonald led Charleston with 24 yards on 11 carries. Higgins tried 22 passes and connected on six of them, good for 60 yards.

Here's a look at the Friday night matchups in the region:

EFFINGHAM 28, Charleston 0

Lincoln 19, Urbana 12

Mahomet-Seymour 6, Mt. Zion 0

Taylorville 16, Mattoon 6

Newton 28, Marshall 8

Cumberland 63, Oakland Tri-County 12

Red Hill 52, Casey-Westfield 20

Paris 35, Flora 6

Olney Richland County 34, Robinson 0 

Carlyle 26, Salem 20

Carlinville 55, Vandalia 31

Pana 61, Piasa Southwestern 34

Shelbyville 40, Clinton 0

Lutheran North St. Louis 59, Breese Mater Dei 0 

Hillsboro 34, Greenville 14