Two Teams Looking for First Win as Effingham Hosts Mascoutah

The Effingham Hearts wrap up a two-game homestand to start the 2015 high school football season Friday night playing host to the Mascoutah Indians.

Kickoff will be 7pm. Hear the action on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. Pre-game coverage will begin at 6:45pm. Watch for a video replay online later in the weekend.

Neither Effingham nor Mascoutah scored a point last week; the Hearts were blanked by Breese Mater Dei 37-0, while Mascoutah lost to Breese Central 39-0 with the Cougars up 33-0 at halftime.

Last year's game was a strange one; the Hearts scuffled early, trailing 7-0 after the first quarter. Lightning came and postponed the remainder of the contest to Saturday afternoon. Worries about another long bus trip in less than 24 hours were unfounded, as the Hearts rolled to a 35-13 win over Mascoutah.

Mascoutah is a team decimated by departures, mostly due to graduation but some due to military transfers. That includes Misikei Thompson, who kept Mascoutah afloat while the Hearts posted the win. His family was transferred to a military base in Oregon. Only three Indians' starters from last season are back this year.

The Hearts are also shy on experience from last season, but Coach Brett Hefner indicated Job 1 this week would be to better ready his offense, which struggled against Mater Dei.

Hudson Graham will be back at quarterback for Effingham, with Drew Vasquez the chief running back. Blake White was the top receiver in last week's contest.

Effingham plays its first road game next week, heading to Bethalto to take on Civic Memorial before beginning Apollo Conference play the following week at Charleston.