ROCHESTER — Rochester forced Effingham into a three-and-out on the Hearts’ first possession of Friday night’s IHSA Class 4A second round playoff game.

    Then Effingham did something it hadn’t done all season long. Sean Dammerman’s snap on the Hearts’ ensuing punt sailed over punter Alex Steppe’s head and flew 27 yards backward giving Rochester possession at Effingham’s 10-yard line.

    Two carries later, Rochester senior running back Colten Glazebrook had the Rockets’ first score of the game. A kickoff and two Effingham plays later, Rochester had the ball again after Zachary Grant picked off Hearts quarterback John Jones and returned the ball to the Effingham 18-yard line.

    The Rockets turned that great field position into a second touchdown in the first three minutes of the game when Glazebrook scampered five yards for another score.

    Rochester built on that early 14-0 lead to go onto a 53-2 victory against the Hearts. All of the Rockets’ points came in the first half for a running clock the entire second half, and Glazebrook set a Class 4A state record for touchdowns scored in a game with six.

    “We did some things we didn’t do all year,” Effingham coach Mike McDonald said. “The snap goes over the punter’s head. We ran the wrong route (on the interception). Sometimes you just have to throw it away, and Johnson just chucked it to the corner. Boom, boom and it’s 14-0. Our big thing was we needed to be close after the first quarter to compete with them. That obviously didn’t happen.”

    Glazebrook finished the game with 162 yards rushing on twelve carries, meaning he scored on half of his touches. His biggest run came on a 67-yard score with 2 minutes, 43 seconds remaining in the first half.

    Glazebrook took the handoff from quarterback Wes Lunt at the Rockets’ 33-yard line and made a beeline for the left sideline. Glazebrook looked to be out of running room near midfield — a seemingly decent 17-yard gain — but he kicked into another gear and distanced himself from any would-be Effingham tacklers for the 67-yard touchdown.

    “It was a one-play drive,” McDonald said. “We blitzed and maybe over-pursued in the backfield, and he got past our blitz. We missed a couple of tackles.”

    Rochester rushed for 210 yards as a team. That rushing total would have been larger had Effingham senior linebacker Tyler Doty not fallen on a botched snap for a fumble recovery and 31-yard loss for the Rockets late in the fourth quarter. Lunt added to the Rockets’ offensive haul, however, with 166 yards passing and two more touchdowns while completing 62 percent of his passes.

    “We could have stuffed the box and put seven or eight guys in the box, and then you have man coverage on their receivers,” McDonald said about the Rockets — Glazebrook in particular — running so well against the Hearts’ defense. “It’s pick your poison with these guys. They have a lot of athletes and a good decision maker at quarterback.”

    Even with the state record setting performance from Glazebrook, McDonald said Rochester’s offensive success started and ended up front.

    “It starts from up front, and they just manhandled us,” he said. “They were bigger, faster and stronger, and we couldn’t handle them up front.”

    Effingham scored its lone two points of the game early in the fourth quarter after turning the ball over on downs. Rochester took possession deep in its own territory, and junior defensive end Nate Boggs tackled Rochester’s Garett Dooley in the end zone for a safety. Boggs tied Bo Nosbisch with six tackles — one behind Grant Johnson’s team-high seven.

    Dereck Reedy led the Hearts with 30 yards rushing on eight carries. Johnson chipped in 26 yards on eight carries, and Keith Lasher had Effingham’s biggest single-play gain with a 23-yard rush late in the fourth quarter. Zach Worman caught two passes for 15 yards to lead the Hearts in receiving.

    Doty, Nosbisch, Reedy and Worman are four of Effingham’s departing seniors, while Johnson, Jones and Lasher will be back for the Hearts next year.

    “It’s been a fun season, but it’s been a hard season,” McDonald said. “I told the kids this was one of the hardest seasons I’ve had to coach with the staff changes... and changing quarterbacks when (Steppe) got hurt.

    “This senior class we had was a great bunch of kids and grew into young men this season. It’s unfortunate it had to end like this. Sometimes you just get your butts kicked, and you have to learn from that. Hopefully the younger kids can learn from this.”    

Rochester 53, Effingham 2

Effingham 0 0 0 2 —2

Rochester 32 21 0 0 —53

1st Quarter

R — Glazebrook 4 run, 10:10 (con. failed)

R  — Glazebrook 5 run, 8:59 (con. good)

R — Glazebrook 10 run, 5:23 (kick no good)

R — Glazebrook 67 run, 2:43 (con. failed)

R — Wes Lunt 6 pass to Gunter (kick no good)

2nd Quarter

R — Lunt 2 pass to Greer, (kick good) 8:03

R — Glazebrook 10 run (kick good) 4:26

R — Glazebrook 11 run (kick good) 1:23

4th Quarter

E — Nate Boggs safety, 11:55



Individual Statistics

Rushing

Effingham — Grant Johnson 8-26; John Jones 9-4; Dereck Reedy 8-30; Nate McDonald 1-0; Nathan Vail 2-(-6); Keith Lasher 1-23; Logan Howell 1-10 ; Rochester — Colten Glazebrook 12-162, 6 TD; Michael Gunter 1-5; Taylor Hill 1-2; Seth Cronin 5-52; Blake Gand 2-7; Wes Lunt 1-3; Garret Dooley 4-(-5); Trevor Cordrey 1-4; Colton Piper 1-7; Kyle Lewis 2-4; Austin Green 1-(-31)

Passing

Effingham — Jones 4-14-31, 2 INT; Vail 0-2-0 ; Rochester — Lunt 13-21-166, 2 TD

Receiving

Effingham — Zach Worman 2-15; Johnson 1-9; Reedy 1-7 ; Rochester — Gunter 2-14, TD; Traves Everly 1-12; Glazebrook 3-47; Zachary Grant 3-63; Gand 2-10; Dakota Greer 2-20, TD