Hearts in Must-Win Situation Friday vs. Centralia

The Effingham Hearts will close out the regular season Friday night, playing host to the Centralia Orphans.

Kickoff is at 7pm at Klosterman Field at Washington Savings Bank Stadium. Pre-game coverage will begin at 6:45pm. It'll be Employee Appreciation Night. Hear the action on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. 

After dropping three games in a row, the Hearts are 4-4 on the season, and find themselves in a position where they must win to become playoff-eligible. 

Effingham opened the season with wins over Robinson and Mt. Carmel, then lost at Breese Mater Dei. The Hearts bounced back with wins over Mattoon and Charleston, but have suffered losses to Taylorville in overtime, then to Mahomet-Seymour and Mt. Zion. 

Centralia, meanwhile, opened with a 42-35 win over Salem, then were edged by Collinsville 21-19 and by Waterloo 27-26. Since then, the Orphans won three in a row, over Granite City 49-6, Carbondale 41-13, and Marion 35-13. After a 28-17 loss to Cahokia, Centralia beat Mt. Vernon 42-16 last week and stand at 5-3 on the season. 

6'2", 210-pound freshman Archie Goewey is the Orphans quarterback. Mike Brown is their leading rusher, along with Keaton Morgan and Will Stanton. Goewey throws the ball to Kenny Bratton, Xavier Koch and Julian Martinez. 

Meanwhile, Weldon Dunston will be helping leading the Hearts' offense. After being held in check by Mahomet-Seymour, Dunston bounced back by rushing for more than 90 yards at Mt. Zion. Quarterback Jaxon Bridges has been throwing to Maxx Kistler most frequently, with Nolan Fearday, Kaden Koeberlein and Wade Bushur among other targets. Maicol Sefton handles the kicking chores for the Hearts.

If the Hearts win and make the playoffs, the plans will be announced by the IHSA at 8pm Saturday.

Friday's game will also be the final regular season game for Greg Sapp, who is retiring from broadcasting football after almost 50 years. 

Here are the Week 9 matchups:

Centralia ____________ at EFFINGHAM _____________

CHARLESTON __________ at Salem _____________

MAHOMET-SEYMOUR ____________ at Peoria Richwoods ____________

MATTOON ________________ at Marion ___________

MT. ZION __________ at Breese Mater Dei ____________

TDW Academy _________ at TAYLORVILLE ___________

Newton _________ at Marshall ____________

Cumberland _________ at Argenta-Oreana ____________

Paris _____________ at Casey-Westfield _______________

Olney Richland County ___________ at Robinson _____________

Mt. Carmel ______________ at Lawrenceville _____________