Glaspy field goal gives EHS playoff victory

Dustin White

Before last week, Graham Glaspy had never kicked so much as an extra point in a varsity football game.

Now, the Effingham High School senior has a playoff game-winning field goal under his belt.

Glaspy connected on a 20-yarder with just 9.4 seconds remaining in regulation Friday night at muddy Klosterman Field, booting the fifth-seeded Flaming Hearts (9-1) past visiting No. 12 Belleville Althoff (6-4) by a 10-7 final in a Class 4A playoff opener.

"Graham did a great job," said EHS head coach Mike McDonald, who secured his 100th career coaching victory with the dramatic win. "He has worked his butt off in practice."

A full-time offensive lineman, Glaspy took over the extra point kicking in the second half of Effingham's regular-season finale at Taylorville, hitting his only try.

The Hearts hadn't tried a field goal all season, but a 15-yard face-masking penalty tacked onto a short pass reception for Brad Reedy put the ball on Althoff's 11 with around a minute to go.

Following a pair of rushing plays sandwiching an incomplete attempt to Reedy deep in the end zone, Effingham called time with the ball at Althoff's 3 and elected to let Glaspy take a shot at what was more or less an extra-point distance field goal.

Even though the swamplike condition of a now-obliterated Klosterman Field certainly led to poor footing and many fumbles all evening, Glaspy's kick had plenty of distance.

"We made just enough plays to get in position to win," said McDonald. "We got a big break with that facemask. Brad ran around a little more than I would've liked after that catch, but it worked out pretty well for us."

After a week full of rain — including quite a bit Friday morning and afternoon — Klosterman Field was nearly wrecked by the time each club finished warmups.

The slippery conditions were a major factor as each squad had some key fumbles and weren't comfortable enough to utilize much of their passing attack, although each team's second-quarter touchdown came through the air.

"We hurt ourselves with some turnovers, but these were tough conditions," said McDonald. "We stayed with it. This is a great team win. Somehow we hung in and pulled this one off."

Althoff got on the board first as Effingham failed to score on its second possession despite a first-and-goal at the Althoff 2.

The Crusaders stuffed senior halfback Jaron Allred twice in a row, and a pass from junior quarterback Alex Steppe to Reedy fell incomplete on third down.

Allred tried again, but was denied a yard out of the end zone.

"We had an opportunity to stick that one in," said McDonald. "Our kids thought he was in — but it was so hard to see. Instead, they took the lead."

Althoff did indeed get out front on the ensuing possession, marching 99 yards downfield on the back of senior tailback Paul Cefaratti.

Cefaratti took 11 carries on the 13-play drive, including back-to-back runs of 16 and 35 to get it to Effingham's 11.

From four yards out, Althoff quarterback Brady Nowak rolled right and found big tight end Carson Sonnenberg open just across the goal line.

As it turned out, that was the lone completion in nine attempts for Nowak, a second-year senior starter who amassed nearly 1,500 passing yards over the course of the season.

Effingham's first good chance to tie things up came when sophomore defensive back Grant Johnson intercepted a Nowak pass at the Althoff 30.

Johnson, who also got a number of carries at fullback after senior Ethan Fulk left with an early ankle sprain, crossed the field and found the left sideline as he pushed toward the end zone, but lost the handle. Althoff recovered the fumble at its own 4.

The Crusaders ran another long drive and piled up five more first downs, but were stuffed on a fourth-down play at Effingham's 29.

With just 1:08 left in the first half, Effingham went to a muddle set on offense and most likely just wanted to make sure it didn't turn the ball over, but Johnson broke free for a 33-yard gain on second down.

Sean Dammerman, rarely used in the running attack, followed that with a 13-yarder up the gut, and that put EHS in position to knot the score when Steppe found split end Jordan Tate wide open in the end zone with 14.7 seconds before halftime.

Tate, a senior out for his first year of football, simply burned his man in a downfield route along the right sideline and caught his first career TD pass.

The third quarter was an uneventful 12 minutes of football as the field conditions limited any sort of offensive effectiveness.

Cefaratti netted just five yards on nine carries in the second half as Effingham put the clamps down on the stout senior and owner of a team-high 712 rushing yards over the regular season.

Effingham lost a fumble inside its own 30 when a snap hit Ryan Garland, the man in motion on the play. Althoff fumbled it right back when Cefaratti fumbled an option pitch on third down and four at the 22.

The Hearts punted, but Nowak coughed the ball up near his own 40 as big Clint Nunamaker emerged from the pile with possession of the loose ball.

With the final minutes approaching, Effingham went four-and-out, coming up short on a fourth-down measurement at Althoff's 30.

Althoff picked up a first down on three straight carries from senior tailback Pat McGlynn, but had to go into punt formation on fourth and 12 with 1:26 left.

That punt never happened, however, as Nowak (also the Crusaders' punter) couldn't corral a low snap and had to fall on the ball at his own 29 and setting up Effingham's game-winning possession.

"Our defense hung in there," said McDonald. "Althoff did a good job moving the football. They had some trouble snapping the ball. So did we."

Both clubs use a lot of shotgun formations on offense, and neither one was helped by the challenging conditions.

Cefaratti ended up with 107 of his team's 163 rushing yards, while Nowak ran for 33.

For Effingham, Johnson led the way with 46 yards on the ground — none bigger than the 33 he picked up to help set up the tying second-quarter TD.

Garland had a 39-yarder on his only first-half attempt and ended up with 30 net yards, while Allred took a team-high 12 carries and gained 24.

Defensively, Aaron Gilbert led with 19 tackles, including two solo takedowns. Dammerman had 14, sharing the team high of three solos with Cole Morrow. Morrow recorded 11 tackles, while Nunamaker had 10 and Bo Nosbisch had nine.

McDonald is now 100-74 in his 18th season; the victory is Effingham's first postseason win since 2006.

"It doesn't matter what number it is," said McDonald, dismissing the milestone victory. "It's just great to win a playoff game. This team has been great since the preseason workouts. They keep each other encouraged and have done a great job of being positive all season."

The Hearts don't know who they'll play next. Undefeated No. 4 Quincy Notre Dame hosts No. 13 Harrisburg today in a 2 p.m. contest.

Whoever wins will host Effingham either Friday or Saturday. EHS will be going for its 10th win of the season; according to the IHSA Web site, that feat has never been accomplished in the program's long history.

"We're happy to be where we are," said McDonald. "If you advance, you know you're a good team, but so is whoever you play."

Dustin White can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 123 or dustin.white@effinghamdailynews.com.

TEAM STATISTICS

EHS---ALTHOFF

FIRST DOWNS---5---13

By Rushing---3---12

By Passing---1---1

By Penalty---1---0

RUSHES (NO.)---34---50

Yards Gained---141---209

Yards Lost---23---46

Net Yards---118---163

Touchdowns---0---0

PASSES ATTEMPTED---3---9

Number Completed---1---2

No. Had Intercepted---0---1

Yards Gained---20---8

Touchdowns---1---1

TOTAL PLAYS---37---59

TOTAL YARDS---138---171

--------------------------------

PUNTS---6---4

Yards Kicked---165---131

Avg. Kick---27.5---32.7

PUNT RETURNS---3---0

Yards Returned---66---0

Touchdowns---0---0

KICKOFF RETURNS---1---3

Yards Returned---20---27

Touchdowns---0---0

INTERCEPTIONS---1---0

Yards Returned---26---0

Touchdowns---0---0

FUMBLES---4---6

Number Lost---2---3

PENALTIES---1---2

Yards Penalized---5---16

----------------

----------------

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Effingham — Johnson, 7 for 46; Garland, 4 for 30; Allred, 12 for 24; Dammerman, 2 for 14; E. Fulk 2 for 5; Steppe 5 for 0; McDonald, 1 for -1; Team 1 for -22

Althoff — Cefaratti, 28 for 107; Nowak, 15 for 33; McGlynn, 7 for 23

Passing

Effingham — Steppe, 2 of 4, 24 yards, 1 touchdown

Althoff — Nowak, 1 of 9, 4 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception

Pass Receiving

Effingham — Tate, 1 for 20, 1 touchdown; Reedy, 1 for 4

Althoff — Sonnenberg, 1 for 4, 1 touchdown

Punting

Effingham — Allred, 6 for 165, 27.5 avg.

Althoff — Nowak, 4 for 131, 32.7 avg.

Punt Returns

Effingham — Johnson, 3 for 66

Althoff — None

Kickoff Returns

Effingham — Allred, 1 for 20

Althoff — Cefaratti, 1 for 20; Hanger, 1 for 0; Costello, 1 for 7

Interceptions

Effingham — Johnson, 1 for 26

Althoff — None

Opp. Fumbles Recovered

Effingham — Glaspy, Johnson, Nunamaker

Althoff — 2

Tackling

Effingham — Gilbert (2 solos-17 assists — 19 total), Dammerman 3-11 — 14; Morrow 3-8 — 11; Nunamaker 2-8 — 10; Nosbisch 2-7 — 9; Boggs 1-5 — 6; Roepke 2-3 — 5; Johnson 1-4 — 5; Doty 0-4 — 4; Pilcher 1-3 — 4; Flowers 0-3 — 3

Team Scoring

Effingham---0---7---0---3---—---10

Althoff------0---7---0---0---—----7

A — 2nd Qt., 10:33, Sonnenberg, 4 pass from Nowak. PAT — Rowan kick.

E — 2nd Qt., :14.7, Tate, 20 pass from Steppe. PAT — Glaspy kick.

E — 4th Qt., :09.4, Glaspy, 20 field goal.

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