Hearts Post First-Ever Win at Breese Mater Dei to Advance to Second Round of Playoffs; Other High School Football Playoff Scores - Saturday 10-27-2018

The Effingham Hearts beat Breese Mater Dei 21-6 Saturday to advance to the second round of the Class 4A high school football playoffs. It's a first-ever win for the Hearts over Mater Dei at Breese.

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

The Hearts played stellar defense and took advantage of Mater Dei miscues to post the win. Three Mason Hasty interceptions and a barrage of great punts by Dawson Whitten to keep Mater Dei pinned deep in their own territory were also keys to the victory.

Effingham will take on Paris in second round action next Saturday at 2pm at Klosterman Field at Effingham High School. Paris advanced with a 42-14 win over Salem to improve to 10-0.

(HEARTS FANS TURNED OUT BIG AT BREESE SATURDAY)

The Hearts got the ball first Saturday and made it count, traveling 64 yards in five plays including a 53-yard run by Nathan Shackelford before quarterback Landon Wolfe pounded it into the end zone from the one. Beau Hefner's extra point made it 7-0 with 10:09 left in the opening quarter.

Effingham scored again with 6:37 left in the second quarter after a Mater Dei punt deep in their own territory hit a teammate in the rear end. The ball was recovered at the Mater Dei three. It took three tries, but Kendall Ballman reached the end zone from the two and Ivan Angel's extra point made it 14-0.

The Hearts extended the lead with 7:49 remaining in the third quarter after getting the ball at the Mater Dei 33. Seven plays later, Ballman carried it in from the five and Hefner's extra point try was good to make it 21-0.

Effingham didn't score again, and things got a little dicey when less than a minute after that third touchdown, Mater Dei finally hit pay dirt when Mater Dei quarterback Travis Jasper hit Garrett Foppe with a 79-yard touchdown. The extra point was blocked by Ballman, but Mater Dei was on the board with 6:50 to go in the third quarter. That, though, turned out to be the end of scoring in the game.

(A HAPPY HEARTS COACH BRETT HEFNER AFTER SATURDAY'S WIN)

The Hearts' domination on the scoreboard didn't extend to the rest of the stats. Each team ran 59 plays, and the Hearts had 12 first downs to the Knights 10, but Mater Dei racked up 299 yards of offense rushing and receiving to 182 yards for the Hearts. Effingham rushed for 133 yards, to just 33 yards for Mater Dei, but Breese threw for 266 yards to 49 yards for Effingham.

Whitten punted six times for the Hearts for 241 yards, averaging just over 40 yards per punt. In some cases, Whitten didn't go for maximum distance and was able to consistently keep Mater Dei a long way from the goal line to start a drive. By contrast, Mater Dei had a difficult time with punts, kicking it away five times for just 77 yards, just over 15 yards per punt.

Hasty's three interceptions netted just 27 yards, but the timing of the picks were a key, including one in the end zone on one of the few times Mater Dei was knocking on the door about to score. Another came soon after the Hearts had turned the ball over and regained the momentum.

It was a tough day on offense for the Hearts. Shackelford led with 72 yards rushing on three carries. Ballman scored twice, but totaled just 34 yards rushing on 15 carries. Logan Brown had 13 carries for 44 yards, Jacob Stoneburner had a carry for two yards, and Landon Wolfe ended up with nine rushes for -19 yards.

Wolfe, who was on the run much of the day, was eight of 18 passing for 49 yards with one interception. Shackelford had three catches for 26 yards, Dylan Bushur had two grabs for 10 yards, Cameron Kalber two catches for 13 yards, and Ballman one for no gain.

Other stats: Logan Brown had a punt return for no gain; Ivan Angel had four kickoffs for 186 yards; and Ballman and Shackelford each had a kickoff return, Ballman for 22 yards, Shackelford for 13 yards.

Mater Dei quarterback Travis Jasper rushed 16 times for 16 yards, Justin Thole six for eight yards, Zach Napovanice two for eight yards, and Logan Ratermann one for one yard.

Jasper threw the ball 27 times and completed 13 for 227 yards and the three interceptions along with the one score. When Jasper was out for a time with an injury, Reed Braundmeier tried seven passes and completed two for 39 yards.

Napovanice caught seven passes for 81 yards, Foppe three for 148 yards including the touchdown catch, Thole two for 10 yards, Ben Kassen two for seven yards, and Mitchell Haake one catch for 20 yards.

Other Mater Dei stats: Jasper punted three times for seven yards, and Haake punted twice for 70 yards; Foppe returned four punts for just 24 yards; Nolan Poettker had two kickoffs for 86 yards; and Napovanice returned four kickoffs for 88 yards.

The Hearts improved to 8-2 with the win. A reminder for next Saturday's game that admission is $5 per person, as set by the IHSA. Passes are not valid for postseason play. A reminder to please take along exact change for next week's game.

Here's a look at the Week One playoff scoreboard:

HIGH SCHOOL SCORES

Class 1A

Arcola 31, Salt Fork 13

Central A&M 48, Bridgeport Red Hill 40

Fisher 48, Cumberland 15

Edwards County 7, Madison 0

Class 2A

Tuscola 42, Villa Grove-Heritage 6

Pana 28, Fithian Oakwood 21

Class 3A

Paxton-Buckley-Loda 33, Vandalia 6

Fairfield 34, Newton 28  (OT)

Greenville 28, Farmington 14

Class 4A

Effingham 21, Breese Mater Dei 6

Paris 42, Salem 14

Kankakee McNamara 59, Olney Richland County 18

(Friday Night)  Taylorville 57, Chillicothe I-V-C 30

(Friday Night) Rochester 53, Breese Central 27

Class 5A

Mattoon 28, Mascoutah 24

Cahokia 22, Mt. Zion 6