Hearts Headed to Canton for First Round of Football Playoffs

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Published on October 30 2014 5:05 pm
Last Updated on October 30 2014 5:10 pm
Written by Greg Sapp

The Effingham Hearts are headed to Canton Saturday to face the Little Giants in the first round of the Class 4A State Playoffs. Game time is 2pm. Hear the action on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. Wayne will also videotape the game, so watch for it on the website later in the weekend.

Effingham (6-3) will take on a Canton squad that finished the regular season with a 7-2 record. Canton's record deserves a little more scrutiny, though. The Little Giants did not defeat a team with a winning record this season. The opponents defeated by Canton had a combined won-loss record of 19-44. It's also worth noting, though, that eight of Canton's nine opponents have larger enrollments.

Canton opened their season with wins 34-9 over Chillicothe (Illinois Valley Central) and 38-32 over Streator before losing to Washington, 41-28. Canton then defeated Pekin, 60-56 before falling to Metamora, 54-14. Canton reeled off four wins to close their season, 25-14 over East Peoria, 27-21 over Bartonville (Limestone), 35-14 over Morton, and 35-21 over Dunlap. Canton needed every one of those wins, as they finished with just 34 playoff points. Effingham had 40 playoff points. Canton finished in a tie for second place in the Mid-Illini Conference.

Senior Cole Schrodt is the Canton quarterback. The 6'0" 175-pound Schrodt completed 103 passes in 169 attempts for 1,500 yards and 11 touchdowns, while being intercepted four times.

Quinton Reed is Canton's top rusher with 1,017 yards on 163 carries, while Schrodt carried 108 times for 686 yards and Stephen Bitner rushed 67 times for 278 yards.

This is the first trip to the playoffs for Canton in 10 years.

The Hearts began their season with a 22-17 loss at Breese Mater Dei before ripping off five straight wins, 35-13 at Mascoutah, 41-22 over Bethalto Civic Memorial, 41-7 over Charleston, 54-21 at Salem, and 28-7 over Taylorville. The Hearts lost 40-34 at Mattoon, rebounded to beat Mt. Zion 44-41, and then lost in overtirme to Mahomet-Seymour 31-24.

The ground game has been key to Effingham's success. That attack is led by senior Zach Miller who set a school record for yards rushing in a season with 1,688 yards on 252 carries and 24 touchdowns. Billy Arndt rushed for 692 yards on 66 carries with nine touchdowns, and Travis Durbin carried for 434 yards on 72 attempts with four touchdowns.

Hearts quarterback Kevin Daugherty passed for 710 yards and six touchdowns even with the ground game dominating the attack. The Hearts shared the wealth among receivers with Arndt gaining 159 yards on 13 catches, Drew Vasquez gaining 158 yards on 10 receptions, and Carter Hayes grabbing 10 catches for 150 yards.

Looming large in the background of Saturday's game, as it has all season, is that this is Hearts Coach Mike McDonald's final season after heading the EHS program since 1992 and being involved in the program for more than 30 seasons.

A reminder that those attending the game can take along their radios since you'll be able to hear the game even at the game.