Round One of Football Playoffs Begins Tonight

The first round of the 2017 Illinois High School Association football playoffs begins tonight.

The Effingham Hearts, though, have their sights set on Saturday afternoon.

The Hearts play their first round game at 2pm Saturday at Klosterman Field at Effingham High School. Effingham will play host to the Manteno Panthers. Gates will open at 12:30pm. Admission is $5 per person. Passes used during the regular season are not valid for playoff games.

The game can be heard on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. 

Effingham has had a great season, although didn't get off the best start. The Hearts were plagued by turnovers in their opener at Breese and lost to Mater Dei. Worth remembering is that the Hearts fell behind 27-0, but got within a blocked extra point of a tie, falling 27-26.

The Hearts fell behind at Taylorville the next week, but bounced back to hand the Tornadoes their only loss of the season, 50-37.

That bounceback seemed to right the ship for the Hearts, who posted an impressive 37-19 win at Mt. Zion the following week. 

The Hearts finally played their first home game the next week and defeated Lincoln 63-14, then blanked Macomb 40-0, and finished the three-game home stand downing Mahomet-Seymour, also playoff-bound, 41-6. 

Effingham went to Charleston and blanked the Trojans 28-0, then returned home and blasted Mattoon 55-13 before wrapping up the regular season with a 48-15 victory over Salem.

That's an 8-1 regular season record, with the one loss by one point. Effingham finished the regular campaign ranked #8 in Class 4A.

Effingham has many weapons, paced by running back Terrence Hill, already the career rushing leader at EHS and likely the season rushing record holder after Saturday's contest. Add to that a vastly improved passing game and a big and talented line on both sides of the ball and the Hearts appear ready for a good Manteno club.

Manteno finished the regular season with a 6-3 record, winning their final two games to make the playoffs. They've made the playoffs every season since 2011. 

The Panthers are blessed with a passing attack led by Shane Warren, who took over quarterback duties in Game 4. In Manteno's final regular season game, Warren threw for 410 yards and six touchdowns.

One thing that falls in Effingham's favor, besides playing the game in Effingham, is that Manteno's numbers are down this year, meaning more kids are having to play both ways, something that's much less a factor for the Hearts.

Manteno lost their opener 41-13 to Peotone, then nipped Wilmington 28-27. Manteno defeated Sandwich 19-7, but lost to Coal City 35-21. Manteno then posted back-to-back shutouts 28-0 over Plano and 42-0 over Streator. Herscher beat Manteno 34-27, but the Panthers won over Lisle 49-14 and pounded Braidwood Reed-Custer 61-17.

That's an average of 32 points a game while giving up 19 per contest. Effingham averaged 43.1 points per contest, while allowing 14.6 PPG. Hearts fans will remember that margin could have been much greater but for the number of contests where a running clock was employed, once as early as the first series of the second half.

Meanwhile, two area teams begin their post-season play tonight.

The Newton Eagles will host Alton Marquette in Class 3A play. Game time is 7pm at Chizevsky Field. Both the Eagles and the Explorers finished the regular season with 8-1 records.

Meanwhile, the Cumberland Pirates hit the road in Class 1A action, playing at Decatur Lutheran at 7pm. The Pirates are 7-2, as are the Lions.

Regarding the Apollo Conference, as mentioned, Mahomet-Seymour made the playoffs with a 6-3 record, and will head to Chatham Glenwood for a 3pm Saturday contest, while Taylorville will play host to 6-3 Coal City at 3pm Saturday.