Hearts Play First Road Game, Open Apollo Conference Play

The Effingham Hearts open Apollo Conference football action Friday night and play their first road game of the season.

Effingham is headed to Charleston to take on one of their chief rivals, the Trojans.  Kickoff is at 7pm.  Hear the action on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com and watch for video on the game over the weekend.

Hearts football coach Mike McDonald said after last week's game that Effingham's season begins now, with a goal of winning the Apollo Conference championship and reaching the playoffs. 

There's the possibility it might just happen if the Hearts can begin playing more mistake-free football.  At times, Effingham has been its own worst enemy this season.

While the Hearts head into the action 0-3, that might be deceiving as all three of their opponents...Breese Mater Dei, Paxton-Buckley-Loda and Centralia...sit 3-0 heading into Friday night action.  Add to that the drubbing the other Apollo teams took last Friday night against their various opponents...all six conference schools lost last week...and the Hearts have a right as much as any other team to look forward to Apollo play.

The Trojans head into the contest 1-2 but having lost their last two games, the first two-game losing skid for Charleston since the end of the 2010 season. 

Here's a rundown on who plays whom on Friday night:

Effingham at Charleston

Mt. Zion at Mattoon

Paris at Salem

Taylorville at Springfield Sacred Heart/Griffin

Pontiac at Mahomet-Seymour

Casey-Westfield at Albion Edwards County

Cumberland at Palestine

Olney East Richland at Flora

Newton at Lawrenceville

Robinson at Marshall

Central A&M at Sullivan-Okaw Valley

Warrensburg-Latham at Shelbyville

Watseka at Paxton-Buckley-Loda

Carlinville at Pana

Hillsboro at Greenville

Roxana at Vandalia

Carbondale at Centralia

Breese Mater Dei at Mt. Carmel