EFFINGHAM — The Effingham Flaming Hearts lost to the Mt. Carmel Golden Aces in Week 2, 35-28.
Here are Effingham Daily News Sports Editor Alex Wallner’s three takeaways from the game:
Deisher delivers
Mt. Carmel junior quarterback River Deisher was uncontrollable against Effingham.
Whether it was throwing the ball or running it, he made his presence felt. Deisher accounted for a whopping 473 yards of total offense. He was 14-of-18 for 260 yards and one touchdown and rushed for 213 yards on 39 carries and two more scores.
Junior wide receiver Shain Meador, Deisher’s top target, also had quite the evening. He caught eight passes for 158 yards and the lone passing score.
Not capitalizing on mistakes
The Hearts had two chances to add points and didn’t.
In the first half, Effingham blocked a punt, returning it to the Mt. Carmel 35-yard line. At the time, the Hearts were looking to add onto their eight-point lead, and instead went three-and-out.
The Golden Aces followed with a long drive that ended in a touchdown and successful two-point conversion to tie the contest.
The other instance came on the last series of the game.
Mt. Carmel had just regained the lead after a seven-yard run from senior running back Jackson King. The Hearts then drove the ball past midfield and down to the 38-yard line after a 10-yard completion that was thrown by senior quarterback Jack Hartman and received by junior wide receiver Jenner Pals.
But Effingham fumbled on their next play, landing on the ball on their side of the field. Back-to-back incomplete passes then forced the Hearts to punt.
Feeding the receivers
The more touches this wide receiver unit gets, the better.
Pals and senior wideout Maxx Kistler are both electric playmakers and that has been proven in the first two weeks of the season.
On Friday, Kistler caught three passes for 132 yards, all in the first half, and two touchdowns. He scored on the first drive of the game after shedding one defender. The second was an untouched score where he caught the pass in the backfield and let his speed do the rest, jetting down the near sideline to the end zone.
As for Pals, his 82 yards came on seven passes.
He did score once — the first play of the second quarter — when he caught a pass on an out route after Hartman rolled out to his right.