{"id":45452,"date":"2026-08-30T22:54:56","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T03:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=45452"},"modified":"2026-08-30T22:54:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T03:54:56","slug":"45452","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/sports\/football\/45452-45452\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"
\"image_print\"Print<\/span><\/a><\/div>

For the second straight week Effingham High School competed with a surefire playoff team and looked – at times – as if it still might be able to come out on the other side with its first varsity football victory of the season.<\/p>\n

But also for the second straight week \u2026 the Flaming Hearts came up a bit short.<\/p>\n

Mt. Carmel paid EHS a Senior Night visit Friday at Klosterman Field and took the last lead of a see-saw battle midway through the fourth quarter for a 35-28 non-conference triumph and adding at least one more week to the Hearts\u2019 wait for their first foray into the 2026 win column.<\/p>\n

In a game never separated by more than eight points either way, Effingham (0-2) grabbed a 28-27 lead on a Lexton Roberts TD run just ahead of the third quarter horn but couldn\u2019t do much to slow down the ensuing 78-yard drive and two-point conversion for the Golden Aces (2-0).<\/p>\n

As it turns out Effingham only got one more possession from that point on, moving the ball to Mt. Carmel\u2019s 38 but losing more than 20 yards recovering its own fumble in the backfield and eventually punting with five minutes left.<\/p>\n

From there the Aces simply ran QB keeper after QB keeper as junior signal caller River Deisher ran out the clock all by his lonesome, amassing 46 rushing yards and three first downs on seven straight attempts before kneeling twice to kill the final seconds.<\/p>\n

Deisher piled up 217 yards and two scores on a whopping 41 rushing attempts while his teammates ran it 16 more times for 81 more yards and two more TDs. As if that wasn\u2019t enough he completed 13 of 15 passes for 250 yards and Mt.Carmel\u2019s other score.<\/p>\n

The vast majority of Effingham\u2019s offensive production again came in the passing game as its ground attack actually ended in a negative number because of the aforementioned fumble.<\/p>\n

Maxx Kistler caught two touchdowns, including an 89-yarder on sophomore Jenner Keyes\u2019 only pass attempt of the game. It was well-executed screen play with fantastic blocking to spring him loose and give Effingham a 21-13 advantage with 8:44 to go in the second quarter.<\/p>\n

That lead held until all of two seconds before halftime when the Aces closed out a 15-play, 94-yard scoring drive on a four-yard TD pass to senior Shain Meador, one of his eight catches for 157 yards. Deisher ran in the conversion to send the game to halftime knotted at 21.<\/p>\n

Kistler\u2019s other TD catch came on the first possession of the evening as Jack Hartman found him in the front of the end zone from 24 yards out. Jenner Pals also caught a touchdown pass from Hartman, who connected on 11 of 21 passes for 129 yards. Pals had seven receptions for 80 yards and Kistler ended at 133 yards over three catches.<\/p>\n

One phase of the game that definitely favored the Hearts was special teams; Brady Patnaude punted well while a handful of Mt. Carmel SNAFUs set up short fields and eventual scores for the Hearts. One was a Mt. Carmel punt that went almost directly out of bounds at the Aces\u2019 20, one was a muffed punt and fumble recovery inside the Aces\u2019 20, and another was a Mason Bushue punt block in Mt. Carmel territory.<\/p>\n

Effingham\u2019s quest for its first victory heads back to the road in Week 3 as it\u2019s back to Breese to face the Mater Dei Knights. Mater Dei (1-1) is coming off a 20-15 win at Casey after dropping its season opener with Columbia 36-28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n1Q<\/td>\n2Q<\/td>\n3Q<\/td>\n4Q<\/td>\nTOTAL<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mt. Carmel<\/strong><\/td>\n7<\/td>\n14<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n35<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Effingham<\/strong><\/td>\n7<\/td>\n14<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n28<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

SCORING SUMMARY<\/strong>
\n1Q, 7:56, EHS (7-0) – 24-yard pass, Jack Hartman to Maxx Kistler – Brady Patnaude kick good (8 plays, 67 yds, 4:04)
\n1Q, 6:37, MTC (7-7) – 13-yard run, River Deisher – Dakota Woods kick good (4 plays, 60 yds, 1:19)
\n2Q, 11:53, EHS (14-7) – 6-yard pass, Jack Hartman to Jenner Pals – Brady Patnaude kick good (3 plays, 20 yds, 1:02)
\n2Q, 9:06, MTC (14-13) – 20-yard run, Paul-Ray Garrett – Dakota Woods kick no good (7 plays, 88 yds, 1:57)
\n2Q, 8:44, EHS (21-13) – 89-yard pass, Jenner Keyes to Maxx Kistler – Brady Patnaude kick good (1 play, 89 yds, 0:22)
\n2Q, 0:02, MTC (21-21) – 4-yard pass, RIver Deisher to Shain Meador – Deisher 2pt run good (15 plays, 94 yds, 4:16)
\n3Q, 3:28, MTC (21-27) – 35-yard run, River Deisher – Dakota Woods kick no good (3 plays, 71 yds, 0:43)
\n3Q, 0:11.4, EHS (28-27) – 3-yard run, Lexton Roberts – Brady Patnaude kick good (3 plays, 14 yds)
\n4Q, 7:40, MTC (28-35) – 7-yard run, Jackson Kling – Kling 2pt run good (10 plays, 78 yds, 4:25)<\/p>\n

MT. CARMEL<\/strong>
\nRushing:<\/strong> River Deisher, 41 for 217 yds, 2 TD; Eki Militoni, 10 for 40 yds; Paul-Ray Garrett, 2 for 23 yds, TD; Shain Meador, 1 for 5 yds; Jackson Kling, 3 for 13 yds, TD.
\nPassing:<\/strong> River Deisher, 13-for-15, 250 yds, TD.
\nReceiving:<\/strong> Shain Meador, 8 for 157, TD; Owel Blake 2 for 30; Eki Militoni, 2 for 25 yds; Brantley Krup, 1 for 9 yds, Chase Wiggins, 1 for 39 yds.
\nTOTAL OFFENSE:<\/strong> 548 yds on 72 plays (57 rushes for 298 yds; 15 passes for 250 yds).<\/p>\n

EFFINGHAM<\/strong>
\nRushing:<\/strong> Lexton Roberts, 6 for 5 yds, TD; Bryden Kade, 4 for 11 yds; Jack Hartman, 1 for -22 yds; Jenner Keyes, 5 for -3 yds.
\nPassing:<\/strong> Jack Hartman, 11-for-21, 129 yds, 3 TD; Jenner Keyes, 1-for-1, 89 yds, TD.
\nReceiving:<\/strong> Jenner Pals, 7 for 80 yds, TD; Maxx Kistler, 3 for 133 yds, 2 TDs; Carter Kalber, 1 for 1 yd; Ian Kinkelaar, 1 for 4 yds.
\nTOTAL OFFENSE:<\/strong> 209 yds on 38 plays (16 rushes for -9 yds, 22 passes for 218 yds).<\/p>\n

TURNOVERS:<\/strong> Effingham 0, Mt. Carmel 1.<\/p>\n

PENALTIES:<\/strong> Effingham – 4 for 25 yds. Mt. Carmel – 8 for 70 yds.<\/p>\n

FIRST DOWNS:<\/strong> Effingham 10 (2 rushing, 7 passing, 1 by penalty), Mt. Carmel 26 (14 rushing, 10 passing, 2 by penalty).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the second straight week Effingham High School competed with a surefire playoff team and looked – at times – as if it still might be able to come out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-45452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-football","tag-sports-featured"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n- Effingham's News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham's News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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