Hearts Shoot for Third Straight Win Friday

The Hearts will play host to the Taylorville Tornadoes in Apollo Conference action at Klosterman Field at Washington Savings Bank Stadium. Kickoff is at 7pm. Our pre-game coverage on Classic Hits 979XFM is set for 6:45pm. It's Employee Appreciation Night, where each football player adopts a Unit 40 staffer to be introduced with them before the game.

Effingham has turned things around after suffering two losses to Top 5 opponents St. Teresa and Mahomet-Seymour, 18-0 and 35-14. Both of those teams remain undefeated on the season.

Week 3 saw the Hearts down Charleston 31-13, while in Week 4, Effingham blanked the Green Wave 34-0 at Mattoon.

That leaves Effingham at 2-2 on the season, 2-1 in Apollo action. 

Taylorville sits at 1-3 this year, 0-2 in conference play. The Tornadoes lost 40-0 to Mt. Vernon, then beat Elgin St. Edward 24-21. Mattoon then edged Taylorville 17-14 while Mt. Zion beat the Tornadoes 21-6 last Friday.

Sophomore Baron Odam and senior Kolin Albright share quarterback duties for Taylorville, while senior Tanner Pontious runs the controls for the Hearts.

Senior Evan Waymoth has stabilized things at running back for Effingham after injuries hurt the attack. Waymoth has rushed for 80 yards or more in each of the last two games. Andrew Lotz and Caden Walls top the list of receivers for Effingham. The Hearts got a boost last week when Weldon Dunston returned from injury to aid the offense.

The Hearts are tied with Mt. Zion at 2-1 for second place in the conference, one game behind Mahomet-Seymour.

Here are the matchups for Week 5:

Taylorville _____ at Effingham _____

Charleston _____ at Mahomet-Seymour _____

Lincoln _____ at Mt. Zion _____

Mattoon _____ at Collinsville _____

Newton _____ at Robinson _____

Cumberland _____ at Arcola _____

Vandalia _____ at Gillespie _____

Mt. Carmel _____ at Olney (Richland County) _____

Flora _____ at Johnston City _____

Breese Mater Dei _____ at Quincy Notre Dame _____

Decatur St. Teresa _____ at Clinton _____

Troy Triad _____ at Highland _____