Mahomet-Seymour Pulls Away Late in 49-7 Win Over EHS 

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BY DUSTIN WHITE

For a few fleeting moments late in the third quarter Friday at Mahomet, things were looking up for the Effingham High School football team.

Chase Starkey had just caught a 45-yard touchdown pass from Jaxon Bridges and the Flaming Hearts had then quickly forced a Mahomet-Seymour three and out. Yes, they were down 21-7 and the Bulldog punt had them pinned inside their own 10 yard line, but the Hearts had life with 1:14 left before the fourth period.

By the time that third quarter finally ended, however, the Bulldogs had forced two turnovers and quickly capitalized on both to carry a four-touchdown lead into the final stanza of what ended up a 49-7 Apollo Conference blowout.

Effingham (3-3, 1-2 Apollo) fumbled on the second play after the punt, coughing it up on a botched 2nd and 1 handoff. Marco Casillas, the Bulldogs’ big sophomore running back, made them pay exactly one play later with his third rushing touchdown of the night from 16 yards out. After a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, a batted Bridges pass was picked off and returned to Effingham’s 13. One more play and Mahomet quarterback Ryan Pruitt had found Cade Ashby in the end zone with 2.4 seconds still showing on the third quarter clock.

Such a rapid turn of events swiftly removed the wind from Effingham’s sails; it couldn’t find a way back onto the scoreboard over the contest’s last 12 minutes. It also led to a far more lopsided final margin than the game’s initial 2 1/2 quarters might have indicated.

After a scoreless opening period, the Bulldogs (3-3, 2-1 Apollo) went ahead 14-0 in the second and were marching toward a third score before halftime when Maxx Kistler picked off a Pruitt pass in the end zone. Effingham proceeded to run 13 plays to get to Mahomet’s 21 before it was the home team’s turn to intercept a pass near the front of the end zone.

Instead of pulling within a touchdown at half, the Hearts had to go into the locker room down 14-0 and saw that deficit swell to 21-0 when Mahomet got the ball first after the half and waltzed 79 yards on eight plays in under three minutes.

Starkey’s TD catch was part of a big night for the junior receiver; on a night in which Effingham had neither Jenner Pals nor Carter Kalber available – not to mention a couple starting linebackers – he hauled in seven receptions for 81 yards. Kistler had seven receptions as well for 62, while five other receivers got in on the action and found themselves successfully targeted by Bridges.

Bridges re-broke his single-game record for pass attempts in a game, going 24-of-45 with a TD and two interceptions. He threw 41 times in Week 2 against Mt. Carmel to break the 44-year-old record of 35. Against Mahomet, he was sacked a couple times but pressured many, many more by the Bulldogs’ aggressive pass rush.

Effingham also couldn’t run against the stout Bulldogs defense, losing 13 yards on 17 total attempts. Lexton Roberts managed a seven-yard carry for the longest rushing attempt of the night, but more frequently was hit in the backfield without much chance to make a move or even change direction.

Another difficult Apollo challenge awaits next week as Mt. Zion will pay a visit to Klosterman Field after manhandling visiting Charleston 70-0 to remain unbeaten in league play. It’ll be the final home game for the Hearts before trips to Mattoon and Centralia to close out the regular season.

SCORING SUMMARY

2Q, 11:22, M-S (0-7) – 1-yard run, Moen – Davis kick good (10 plays, 57 yds, 3:31)
2Q, 7:15, M-S (0-14) – 31-yard run, Casillas – Davis kick good (5 plays, 65 yds, 1:49)
3Q, 9:44, M-S (0-21) – 42-yard run, Casillas – Davis kick good (8 plays, 79 yds, 2:16)
3Q, 3:11, EHS (7-21) – 45-yard pass, Bridges to Starkey – Sefton kick good (6 plays, 55 yds, 2:53)
3Q, 0:22.3, M-S (7-28) – 16-yard run, Casillas – Davis kick good (1 play, 16 yds, 0:07.2)
3Q, 0:02.4, M-S (7-35) – 13-yard pass, Pruitt to Ashby – Davis kick good (1 play, 13 yds, 0:07.3)
4Q, 4:52, M-S (7-42) – 2-yard run, Moen – Davis kick good (7 plays, 66 yds, 2:07)
4Q, 1:10, M-S (7-49) – 7-yard run, VanDeVeer – Davis kick good (6 plays, 20 yds, 3:39)

EFFINGHAM
Rushing: Roberts, 11 for 3 yds; Bridges, 5 for -14 yds; Starkey, 1 for -2 yds.
Passing: Bridges, 24-for-45, 223 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT.
Receiving: Starkey, 7 for 81 yds, TD; Kistler, 7 for 62 yds; Tucker, 3 for 8 yds; Hecht, 2 for 17 yds; Kinkelaar, 3 for 23 yds; Roberts, 1 for 12 yds; Flack, 1 for 12 yds.
TOTAL OFFENSE: 210 yds on 62 plays (17 rushes for -13 yds; 45 passes for 223 yds).

TAYLORVILLE
Rushing: Moen, 9 for 53 yds, 2 TD; Casillas, 18 for 138 yds, 3 TD; Ashby, 1 for 3 yds; Tiefenthaler, 1 for 4 yds; Manuel, 1 for 6 yds; VanDeVeer, 5 for 7 yds, TD.
Passing: Pruitt, 12-for-2, 146 yds, TD, INT; Fisher, 1-for-1, 10 yds.
Receiving: Manuel, 2 for 14 yds; Tiefenthaler, 3 for 20 yds; Seymour, 3 for 70 yds; Ashby, 2 for 22 yds, TD; Moen, 1 for 1 yd; Casillas, 1 for 9 yds; Snyder, 1 for 10 yds.
TOTAL OFFENSE: 401 yds on 59 plays (38 rushes for 245 yds; 21 passes for 156 yds).

TURNOVERS: Effingham 4, Mahomet-Seymour 1.

PENALTIES: Effingham, 3 for 20 yds; Mahomet-Seymour, 3 for 25 yds.

FIRST DOWNS: Effingham 9 (4 rushing, 3 passing, 2 by penalty), Taylorville 18 (11 rushing, 5 passing, 2 by penalty).