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- Written by: Matt Wilson - Breese Journal Reporter
Five touchdowns - Junior quarterback Hunter Hochbaum threw for 430 yards and five touchdowns in the Mater Dei football team's 45-7 win over Effingham. PHOTO BY MATT WILSON When the ground game wasn't working, the Mater Dei football team went to the air in a 45-7 home win over Effingham on Friday, Sept. 4.
Junior quarterback Hunter Hochbaum finished 13-for-27 for 430 yards and five touchdowns in the victory. That helped offset the Mater Dei rushing attack that finished with minus 4 yards in the contest.
"We knew at the beginning of the season with Hunter at quarterback and the weapons we had on the edge that our passing game was going to be a strength for us," Mater Dei coach Conner McLaughlin said. "We have run the ball well in spurts this season, we just need to be more consistent with that."
Mater Dei has started the season at 2-1 for the first time since the 2023 season. Effingham dropped to 0-3.
After completing his first pass of the game, nine of Hochbaum's next 10 passes were incomplete. Starting with a 74-yard touchdown pass to junior Bentley Nicklin, Hochbaum completed 11 of his final 16 passes. Five of Hochbaum's completions went for 30 yards or more.
Hochbaum spread the ball out to six different players who had at least one catch in the contest. Nicklin had five catches for 176 yards and two touchdowns. Junior Bodie Brockmeier had two catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore Cameron Von Bokel had a 27-yard touchdown catch and a 2-yard touchdown run.
Two touchdowns - Junior Bodie Brockmeier had two touchdown catches in the Mater Dei football team's win over Effingham. PHOTO BY MATT WILSON Sophomore Landon Litteken had two catches for 37 yards. Senior Evan Kreke had two catches for 26 yards. Junior Collin Flowers had a 36-yard catch.
Mater Dei wasted no time taking early control of the contest. The Knights recovered a Heart fumble on the second play of the game, giving the Knights the ball on the Effingham 33-yard line. Hochbaum completed a 31-yard pass to Nicklin to bring Mater Dei to the 2-yard line. Von Bokel had a 2-yard touchdown run on the next play.
The score remained 7-0 until late in the first quarter when Mater Dei had a 4th-and-10 play from its own 15-yard line and was in punt formation. Effingham was flagged for roughing the kicker, giving Mater Dei a first down. Three plays later, the Knights were faced with a 3rd-and-10 from their own 26-yard line and Hochbaum threw a 74-yard touchdown pass to Nicklin to put Mater Dei up 14-0 with 18.2 seconds left in the first quarter.
"It is special to watch Bentley Nicklin with the football in his hands," McLaughlin said. "He just has great natural instinct. He is a special player. But we had good efforts from a lot of different guys. We have got a lot of options and we have a good quarterback that can put the ball in the right spot."
Five catches - Junior Bentley Nicklin had five catches for 176 yards and two touchdowns in the Mater Dei football team's win over Effingham. PHOTO BY MATT WILSON Effingham's ensuing possession resulted in a Kreke interception and the Knights took over on the Heart 27-yard line. On the first play of Mater Dei's drive, Hochbaum threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Von Bokel and a junior Jacob Robert extra point put the Knights up 21-0 two minutes into the second quarter.
Effingham went on a 12-play, 80-yard drive capped by a junior Lexton Roberts 3-yard touchdown run. Sophomore Brayden Kate had 30 rushing yards during the drive.
Three plays into their offensive drive, the Knights were faced with a 3rd-and-5 from their own 29-yard line. Hochbaum threw a 71-yard touchdown pass to Brockmeier to increase the Mater Dei lead to 28-7 with 3:29 left in the first half.
Mater Dei put the game away by outscroing Effingham 17-0 in the second half.
Hochbaum completed a 17-yard pass to Nicklin on the first play of the second half. After a 2-yard rushing loss by the Knights, Hochbaum threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to Nicklin to give Mater Dei a 35-7 lead two minutes into the second half.
