EFFINGHAM -- Credit Nick Jones’ six touchdowns and 225 yards rushing and another touchdown pass for Effingham.
Give an awfully big footnote to Mario Johnson’s five touchdowns and 225 yards rushing for Charleston.
Brian Halsey was pointing to himself and the Charleston football coach certainly was not bragging after Effingham rallied from 14-point deficit with three Jones touchdowns in the last 7:36 providing the 48-41 Apollo Conference win over the Trojans.
“I accept full responsibility,” Halsey said. “I should have played the odds. I take full responsibility. I should have punted. I made a silly decision. It’s my fault.”
Halsey was referring to a fake punt attempt on fourth-down-and-3 from the Effingham 47-yard line when his Trojans were trying to protect a 41-35 lead.
It did not fool Effingham.
“We’re ready for anything when we play Charleston,” Hearts coach Mike McDonald said. “We practice for all of those things all week.”
When Christian Silva tackled Ryan Hale for a 2-yard loss, Effingham had the ball at its 49 with 5:05 remaining.
The Hearts went drove for the tying touchdown on Jones’ 5-yard run with 3:38 remaining although Paden Eveland blocked the extra point keeping things tied at 41-41.
But then when Charleston finally did punt for the first time all night, Brandon Apke returned it 26 yards to the Trojans’ 25.
A holding penalty backed up the Hearts but Jones passed to Cole Mintert for 3 yards and two plays later Jones’ 3-yard touchdown with 43 seconds left put Effingham ahead.
This moved Effingham closer to a return to the playoffs, raising its record to 4-3 overall and 4-2 in the Apollo.
Charleston fell to 3-4 and 3-2 and now needs to win its last two games of the regular season to have any chance at the postseason.
The wild finish also avenged Charleston’s come-from-behind win over the Hearts in last year’s first-round playoff stunner and also came a week after Robinson’s fourth quarter comeback beat Effingham.
“We played four quarters with a lot of heart and a lot of guts,” McDonald said. “We we worried? Yes, we were worried.”
Johnson’s fifth touchdown of the game gave Effingham reason to worry, making it 41-27 with 8:41 remaining.
“Mario hasn’t practiced for two weeks with a bad knee,” Halsey said. “It was a great gut check. I’m so proud of our offensive line. I felt our offensive line was incredible. It’s unfortunate. We should be in here high-fiving.”
McDonald said: “Charleston ran the ball like crazy. One of the big things Charleston has hurt us with in the past is the big play in the air and we didn’t allow that tonight.”
Effingham did not attempt its first pass until the last 10 seconds of the first half.
Then Nick Jones made it count.
After scrambling 18 yards and getting out of bounds with nine seconds left in the first half, Jones connected on his first pass to Brandon Apke for 12 yards and a first down on the Charleston 37-yard line with 1.8 seconds showing on the clock.
That was time for another snap and a launch to the end zone where Apke outleaped two defenders for a a 37-yard touchdown pass.
When Joe Balda converted his third straight extra-point kick, the Hearts took a 21-20 lead and newfound momentum into the halftime locker room.
Until that four-play, 82-yard drive that started with just 21 seconds left in the first half, the second quarter had belonged to Mario Johnson and his Charleston offense, which had drives of 62 and 83 yards to take a 20-14 lead.
Johnson got 65 yards on 12 carries in the second quarter and had 106 yards on 19 first-half carries.
Jones had also topped 100 yards by halftime, getting 108 on 11 quarterback keeps for an Effingham offense that totaled 209 yards.
The first half had seven possessions and six touchdowns with Effingham punting once.
Charleston is to complete Apollo play with a 7 p.m. Friday game at Olney.
Charleston 7 13 14 7 - 41
Effingham 14 7 0 27 - 48
First quarter
E – Nick Jones 1 run (Joe Balda kick) 6:57
C – Mario Johnson 15 run (Brandon Browning kick), 4:41
E – Jones 3 run (Balda kick), :52
Second quarter
C – M. Johnson 1 run (kick failed), 8:43
C – M. Johnson 3 run (Browning kick), :21
E – Brandon Apke 37 pass from Jones (Balda kick), :00
Third quarter
C – Billy Davis 1 run (Browning kick), 7:18
C – M. Johnson 5 run (Browning kick), 3:46
Fourth quarter
E – Jones 3 run (kick failed), 9:59
C – M. Johnson 52 run (Browning kick), 8:41
E – Jones 19 run (Apke pass from Jones), 7:36
E – Jones 5 run (kick failed), 3:38
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
C – Mario Johnson 36-225, 5 TDs; Billy Davis 8-68, 1 TD; Austen Pankey 2-6; Taylor Bartlett 1-0; Ryan Hale 1-(-2)
E – Nick Jones 25-218, 6 Tds; Jaron Allred 11-81; Evan Fulk 3-34; Cole Mintert 3-16; team 1(-1) Passing C – Bartleytt 6-12-1-67; team 0-1-0
E – Jones 9-12-0-133, 1 TD
Receiving
C Adam Drake 4-43; Dylan Doughty 1-12; Pankey 1-12
E – Branden Apke 2-49; Mintert 2-35; Andrew Wilder 2-19; Fulk 2-16; Allred 1-14
Contact Brian Nielsen at 238-6856 or bnielsen@jg-tc.com
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