It was an interception return for a touchdown with 1:20 left in the game that sealed the win for Effingham against Salem 45-31.
Salem got on the board first with a 6 yard touchdown run to take a 6-0 lead after the first quarter. Effingham came back with a touchdown with 10:47 left to go in the second quarter on a Hill 4 yard run and Effingham took a 7-6 lead. Salem scored to retake the lead with 7:21 left in the half on a 12 yard run by Schoonover, his second touchdown of the game. Effingham would respond with a 15 yard touchdown run by McCabe to make it 13-12 with 3:05 left in the half. Salem would come back with a 63 yard touchdown pass from Roth to Schoonover with 1:21 left to go in the half to make it 18-13. Effingham would respond with a drive of their own that ended with a Hill 2 yard touchdown with 13.6 seconds left in the half to give Effingham a 20-18 lead.
Effingham wouldn’t let up in the second half with a Hill 1 yard touchdown with 11:29 left in the third quarter making it 27-18. Salem would come back with a 51 yard touchdown pass from Roth to Reid to make it 27-25 with 7:19 left in the third quarter. Effingham would then put up two straight touchdowns in the fourth behind runs from 5 yards and 53 yards by Hill to make it 39-25 with 4:14 left in the game. Salem would add another score on a 20 yard pass from Roth to Reid to make it 39-31 with 3:01 left in the game. That is when Wolfe made the interception and returned it for a touchdown with 1:07 left in the game.
Effingham was led on offense by Hill who carried the ball 32 times for 224 yards and 5 touchdowns.
With the win, Effingham improved to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the Apollo Conference. They will next face currently state-ranked Taylorville next week for Homecoming.
Effingham
Passing: G. Wolfe (7-9, 132 yards); Vasquez (6-10, 76, yards)
Receiving: McDermith-Herron (6-115-0); L. Smith (5-23-0); H. Smith (5-42-0); Hill (3-23-0).
Rushing: Hill (32-224-5); McCabe (4-39-1); L. Wolfe (1-7-0); Vasquez (1-6-0).