Hearts Travel to St. Teresa to Open 2021 Football Season

Overlooking the fact that it will actually be the second football season this year, the Effingham Hearts will travel to Decatur to begin the 2021 campaign Friday night. Effingham will do battle with the St. Teresa Bulldogs. Kickoff is at 7pm. Hear the action on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. 

St. Teresa is a new opponent for the Hearts, but their coach is a familiar face for Hearts Coach Brett Hefner.

Mark Ramsey and Hefner were both on the staff at Central A&M when Hefner began his high school coaching career. Counting the abbreviated spring season, Ramsey is heading into his sixth season as varsity coach of the Bulldogs. In his first season in 2016, St. Teresa played for the Class 1A state championship and finished the season 12-1. They've since gone 9-2, 12-1 and 11-2, along with a 6-0 mark this past spring. St. Teresa has a smaller enrollment than Effingham, meaning they have ended up in Class 1A, 2A, and 3A since Ramsey arrived. 

Ramsey was hired at St. Teresa after 21 seasons at Central A&M, posting a 179-63 including a state championship in 1997, as well as four seasons as state runner-up. 

Effingham has been on a quite a roll of their own in recent seasons. After the Hearts went 4-5 and 3-6 in Hefner's first two seasons, EHS has posted records of 9-2, 9-3, and 11-2 including a berth in the Class 4A semifinals. With one game lost to an opponent's COVID problems, the Hearts went 5-0 this past spring and won the Apollo Conference championship. 

Effingham has a young club, graduating more than 20 seniors in the spring.

As of mid-week, here were the starters for the Hearts:

OFFENSE

Left Tackle--Kobe Coburn...Left Guard--Chase Kiefer...Center--Jacob Foster...Right Guard--Riley Crain...Right Tackle--Cohen Woods...Tight End--Connor Thompson...Wide Receiver--Armando Estrada...Wide Receiver--Caden Walls...Fullback--Evan Waymoth...Tailback--Keegan Baker...Quarterback--Tanner Pontious

DEFENSE

Defensive End--Logan Heil...Defensive Tackle--Charlie Ring...Defensive Tackle--Blake Bushue...Defensive End--Maddox Burner...Linebacker--Dalton Fox...Linebacker--Edgar Castillo...Defensive Back--Damon Kalber...Defensive Back--Kaedyn Gillman...Defensive Back--Max Nelson...Defensive Back--Noah Jones...Defensive Back--Connor Simmons

SPECIAL TEAMS

Long Snapper--Noah Jones...Punter--Armando Estrada...Kicker--Osvaldo Angel...Kicker--Armando Estrada...Kickoff--Osvaldo Angel...Kickoff--Armando Estrada...Holder--Zach Donaldson...Holder--Gaige Gillum...Punt Returner--John Westendorf...Kick Returner--Keegan Baker...Kick Returner--John Westendorf

For St. Teresa, junior Joe Brummer is expected to start at quarterback, with backup from senior Cayden Wilkins. Running back chores are to be shared by senior Denim Cook and junior Christion Harper. 

Here are the Week One matchups:

EFFINGHAM _____ at St. Teresa _____

Robinson _____ at CHARLESTON _____ (canceled due to COVID at Robinson)

Clinton _____ at LINCOLN _____

MAHOMET-SEYMOUR _____ at Canton _____

MATTOON _____ at Troy Triad _____

Bartonville Limestone _____ at MT. ZION ______

Mt. Vernon _____ at TAYLORVILLE ______

Casey-Westfield _____ at Olney Richland County _____

Newton ______ at Paris _____

Shelbyville _____ at Cumberland _____

Vandalia _____ at Pana _____

Flora _____ at Christopher-Zeigler-Royalton _____