Hearts Battle, But Can’t Topple No. 4 Mt. Zion in 31-7 Decision 

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Effingham High School couldn’t send state-ranked Mt. Zion home with a loss Friday, but it sure sent the Braves home knowing they had to work for their sixth win of the season.

The Hearts fought valiantly against the No. 4 team in Class 4A, but managed just one first-quarter touchdown and ultimately dropped their third game in a row by a 31-7 Apollo Conference final at Klosterman Field.

That TD was a 62-yard strike down the right sideline from Jaxon Bridges to Maxx Kistler, a wonderful throw to even the score at 7-7 after Mt. Zion took an early lead on a TD pass to hulking 6-foot-7 senior JC Anderson in the corner of the end zone.

Unfortunately, the next three scores of the game were rushing touchdowns from Mt. Zion running back Kellen Bollhorst, who proved to be the X-factor with his 173 yards on 30 carries. The Braves tacked on a final 37-yard field goal late in the third quarter from kicker Gabe Shumaker, who nailed it with ease on a night when he also boomed five kickoffs through the back of the end zone.

Effingham’s pass defense was on point, limiting Braves quarterback Keller Stocks to 10-for-27 passing for 161 yards with a combination of good pocket pressure and wonderful coverage of some awfully athletic receivers in the secondary. Kistler picked him off in the end zone and did extremely well to hang onto the ball after a nasty-looking collision with teammate Max Buzzard from which both somehow walked away no worse for wear.

Each team turned it over three times; Mt. Zion returner Jacob Harvey played a couple of first half punts off his chest and the EHS coverage team was able to come up with both loose balls. The Braves picked off a pair of passes while also recovering a fumble.

Despite the effort, Effingham falls to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in league play with its third straight defeat.

That means the next two games for the Hearts are must-wins if they want to get to playoff eligibility. That begins next Friday when they travel to Mattoon to wrap up the Apollo schedule. A road trip to Centralia looms in Week 9 as Friday was the Hearts’ final regular season home game of the campaign.

Mt. Zion is 6-1 with a 4-0 Apollo mark. The Braves will head to Taylorville next week and need to beat the Tornadoes to win the Apollo title outright.

SCORING SUMMARY

1Q, 9:16, MTZ (0-7) – 23-yard pass, Stocks to Anderson – Shumaker kick good (1 play, 23 yds, 0:11)
1Q, 7:00, EHS (7-7) – 62-yard pass, Bridges to Kistler – Sefton kick good (3 plays, 69 yds, 1:19)
1Q, 2:50, MTZ (7-14) – 5-yard run, Bollhorst – Shumaker kick good (13 plays, 87 yds, 4:10)
2Q, 9:40, MTZ (7-21) – 9-yard run, Bollhorst – Shumaker kick good (3 plays, 36 yds, 0:24)
3Q, 3:28, MTZ (7-28) – 10-yard run, Bollhorst – Shumaker kick good (7 plays, 73 yds, 3:18)
3Q, 0:21.7, MTZ (7-31) – 37-yard FG, Shumaker

MT. ZION
Rushing: Bollhorst, 30 for 173 yds, 3 TD; Stocks, 8 for 82 yds.
Passing: Stocks, 10-for-27, 161 yds, TD, INT.
Receiving: Anderson, 4 for 63 yds, TD; Bollhorst, 2 for 50 yds; Harvey, 2 for 35 yds.
TOTAL OFFENSE: 416 yds on 65 plays (38 rushes for 255 yds; 27 passes for 161 yds).

EFFINGHAM
Rushing: Roberts, 6 for 9 yds; Bridges, 8 for -7 yds; Latham, 8 for 22 yds; Kade, 2 for 16 yds.
Passing: Bridges, 9-for-24, 117 yds, TD, 2 INT.
Receiving: Kistler, 3 for 83 yds, TD; Flack, 1 for 3 yds; Tucker, 1 for 6 yds; Starkey, 3 for 14 yds; Latham, 1 for 11 yds.
TOTAL OFFENSE: 159 yds on 49 plays (25 rushes for 42 yds; 24 passes for 117 yds).

TURNOVERS: Mt. Zion 3, Effingham 3.

PENALTIES: Mt. Zion, 14 for 155 yds; Effingham, 8 for 72 yds.

FIRST DOWNS: Mt. Zion 16 (10 rushing, 5 passing, 1 by penalty), Effingham 8 (2 rushing, 5 passing, 1 by penalty).