Hearts Snag First Victory of Football Season on Record-Breaking Night for Bridges 

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Jaxon Bridges found his way into the Effingham High School football record book and the Flaming Hearts found their way into the win column Friday night at Mt. Carmel, scoring four first-quarter touchdowns and coming home from the Snake Pit with a 35-14 victory over the Golden Aces.

Effingham (1-1) bounced back in style from its season opening loss to state-ranked Breese Central a week ago, needing just three plays and 50 seconds after the opening kickoff to get on the board when Bridges, the Hearts’ senior quarterback, connected with sophomore receiver Carter Kalber for a 55-yard strike down the right side of the field.

By the time the final horn sounded, Bridges and his talented young group of receivers had piled up 392 yards through the air and he had smashed Landon Wolfe’s single-game record of 343 set in 2018 against Macomb. Additionally, Bridges’ 41 passing attempts and 28 completions broke much older records of 35 and 23 held by Rich Eggemeyer since setting each in a 1982 contest with Mt. Zion.

(Official statistics for record keeping are based on team stat-keeping and not media coverage, of course, but whatever Bridges’ final official passing yardage from Friday turns out to be, it will doubtlessly sit atop the single-game passing list.)

Two more passing touchdowns found their way in the end zone before Friday’s first quarter concluded along with a 36-yard scoring run from DJ Latham in a ball-carrying cameo for the senior linebacker who also lined up several times as a fullback and caught a couple passes himself.

Jenner Pals, another sophomore wideout, caught both of the other first-quarter TD passes, getting in from 23 yards out on the Hearts’ second possession to make it 14-0 and again from 57 yards to get it to 28-7. He and Bridges orchestrated quite the encore to last week’s five-catch, 116-yard performance with nine more receptions for 140 yards and the two touchdowns, giving him three scores on the year.

Mt. Carmel (0-2) tried to keep things interesting when sophomore quarterback River Deisher broke loose for a 55-yard touchdown run to make it 14-7, but still found itself down 21 points after the opening period. A 14-play, 67-yard drive that covered 7:45 over the end of the first quarter opening five minutes of the second quarter got the Aces to 28-14, but a key drive late in the first half stalled out on Effingham’s 20 and their opening possession in the third quarter ended when Maxx Kistler intercepted Deisher along the Mt. Carmel sideline.

Deisher threw two picks and also lost a fumble; the other interception was on Mt. Carmel’s first possession after winning the coin toss and deferring. Wade Bushur came up with that one, while it was fellow senior Nolan Fearday falling on the fumble. Fearday had a great night in pass coverage along with the rest of the secondary, while sophomore defensive lineman Hank Nelson found his way into the backfield again and again after being inserted into the starting lineup this week and being challenged by his coaches at halftime to find another gear.

Fearday also blocked a punt, although the big play went awry for Effingham as another Heart touched the football and made it a live ball for Mt. Carmel to recover beyond the sticks and get itself a new set of downs in an unfortunate second-half break. Each team ended up with three turnovers as the Hearts also lost a fumble and Bridges threw a late pick.

The only score after halftime was a well-executed five-yard TD pass to senior tight end Max Flack at the midpoint of the third quarter; he and fellow tight end Aidan Feldhake had shifted from left to right on the line to seemingly set up blocking, only to release and catch a pass in the end zone on the weak side with no defenders particularly close.

Flack was one of six receivers to catch a pass and all of them caught more than one; he caught four for 26 yards, while Kalber smashed the century mark with 5/112, Kistler checked in at 6/79, and Chase Starkey grabbed four for 29. Kalber, Kistler and Starkey all had standout moments over the course of the evening, grabbing tough catches just above the turf or staying inbounds along the sideline.

Effingham will be back at Washington Savings Bank Stadium for Week 3 when the Mater Dei Knights from Breese come to town for Military Appreciation Night at Klosterman Field. Mater Dei (0-2) played Friday in the final installation of the “Milk Bowl” rivalry game against Breese Central and took it on the chin to the tune of a 46-0 final after dropping a 23-22 heartbreaker at Columbia in its opener.

SCORING SUMMARY

1Q, 11:10, EHS – 55-yard pass, Bridges to Kalber – Sefton kick good (3 plays, 68 yds, 0:50)
1Q, 7:26, EHS – 23-yard pass, Bridges to Pals – Sefton kick good (7 plays, 68 yds, 1:58)
1Q, 6:27, MTC – 55-yard run, Deisher – Wiggins kick good (3 plays, 62 yds, 0:59)
1Q, 4:20, EHS – 23-yard run, Latham – Sefton kick good (6 plays, 64 yds, 2:07)
1Q, 2:48, EHS – 57-yard pass, Bridges to Pals – Sefton kick good (1 play, 57 yds, 0:08)
2Q, 7:03, MTC – 2-yard run, Kling – Wiggins kick good (14 plays, 67 yds, 7:45)
3Q, 6:46, EHS – 5-yard pass, Bridges to Flack – Sefton kick good (9 plays, 41 yds, 4:00)

EFFINGHAM
Rushing: Holland, 12 for 15 yds; Latham, 2 for 26 yds, TD; Bridges, 2 for 8 yds; Buzzard, 2 for -2 yds.
Passing: Bridges, 28-for-41, 392 yds, 4 TD, 1 INT.
Receiving: Pals, 9 for 140 yds, 2 TD; Kalber, 5 for 112 yds, TD; Kistler, 6 for 79 yds; Starkey, 4 for 29 yds; Flack, 4 for 26 yds, TD; Latham, 2 for 16 yds.
TOTAL OFFENSE: 449 yds on 58 plays.

MT. CARMEL
Rushing: Deisher, 13 for 106 yds, TD; Acree, 13 for 68 yds; S. Militoni, 7 for 26; Wiggins, 1 for 6 yds; Meador, 1 for 5 yds.
Passing: Deisher, 10-for-20, 96 yds, 2 INT.
Receiving: Meador, 5 for 57 yds; Andrews, 2 for 9 yds; Blake, 1 for 13 yds; M. Militoni, 1 for 10 yds; Webb, 1 for 6 yds.
TOTAL OFFENSE: 317 yds on 59 plays.

TURNOVERS: Effingham 3, Mt. Carmel 3.

PENALTIES: Effingham 3 (25 yds), Mt. Carmel 4 (20 yds).

FIRST DOWNS: Effingham 21 (2 rushing, 19 passing), Mt. Carmel 13 (9 rushing, 4 passing).