Published on October 2, 2025 1:17 pm
Last Updated on October 2, 2025 1:19 pm
Don’t let Mahomet-Seymour’s record fool you … Effingham High School has a big challenge on its hands as the Flaming Hearts football team hits the road for this week’s Apollo Conference action.
The Bulldogs (2-3, 1-1 Apollo) have consistently received votes in the Associated Press Class 5A poll since the beginning of the year. Their losses have been to Morton, Morris and last week’s 35-23 battle with Mt. Zion, three clubs combining for 12 victories against just three defeats.
While Mahomet is perhaps not the juggernaut it has been in recent years – before Friday, the Bulldogs hadn’t lost a game counting toward the Apollo Conference standings since Oct. 4, 2019 – it is far from the ideal opponent for an Effingham team in need of a bounceback after a 28-21 Homecoming Game loss to Taylorville last week.
Effingham (3-2, 1-1) saw a three-game winning streak snapped by the Tornadoes, dropping a game plagued by costly penalties, lack of offensive execution in key moments, and an inability to put a lid on the opponent’s run game as Taylorville controlled the clock down the stretch.
Putting a lid on the run game will seemingly once again be the challenge in western Champaign County; as a team, the Bulldogs have averaged 5.4 yards per rushing attempt and scored 18 of their 22 touchdowns on the ground.
While 10 different Mahomet players have taken at least one carry, 65 percent of the totes have been handled by the duo of junior Cody Moen (68 carries, 339 yards, 3 TD) and sophomore Marco Casillas (63 carries, 290 yards, 5 TD). Senior Cade Ashby actually leads with six rushing TDs despite just 23 carries, while classmate Wade Manuel, also the Bulldogs’ leading pass catcher, has made the most of his 13 carries with 135 yards and a score.
Not that quarterback Ryan Pruitt hasn’t found a bit of success through the air … the senior has connected on 56 of 92 passes for 634 yards, four scores and, most notably, just a single interception.
Success through the air was a significant part of Effingham’s winning streak and it’s not even remotely fair to say Jaxon Bridges’ performance against Taylorville (14-of-23, 182 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT) was a bad one, but it *is* fair to say a handful of plays in that Homecoming loss left onlookers feeling like the Hearts left a little meat on the bone.
It’s difficult for those not directly involved in the game to really know for sure why a connection between QB and receiver doesn’t quite click on this play or that, but there were some promising looking plays that were just a little off and didn’t produce the results they had in previous weeks.
Pair that with some key plays called back by penalties that were the biggest thing on Coach Brett Hefner’s mind after the game, and it was just a little too much to overcome.
No loss comes without some positives, though, and the Hearts certainly had to enjoy the offensive contributions they got from Maxx Kistler and Lexton Roberts.
Kistler had the game of his career with 108 yards on 4 receptions and a pair of scores, including a 77-yard TD. Roberts, fresh of his varsity debut in the second half at Charleston, surpassed the century mark for the second straight week with 116 yards and a touchdown on a dozen carries.
Clinton Metcalf was all over the field defensively, getting involved in 10 tackles to lead the team. Kistler, Wade Bushur, Nolan Fearday, Aidan Carrell, DJ Latham, Aiden McCarty and Hank Nelson all totaled a half-dozen or more tackles.
Game time, as always, is 7 p.m. Friday at Mahomet. You can tune in at 6:45 p.m. for pregame coverage on your Home for Hearts Football, 979 XFM.
APOLLO CONFERENCE – WEEK 6
Effingham (3-2, 1-1) at Mahomet-Seymour (2-3, 1-1)
Charleston (1-4, 1-1) at Mt. Zion (4-1, 2-0)
Mattoon (1-4, 0-2) at Taylorville (2-3, 1-1)
LINCOLN PRAIRIE CONFERENCE – WEEK 6
Cumberland (4-1, 4-1) at Sangamon Valley (1-4, 1-3)
Arcola/Cerro Gordo-Bement (0-5, 0-5) at Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond (5-0, 5-0)
Argenta-Oreana (1-4, 1-3) at Villa Grove (3-2, 3-2)
Sullivan (4-1, 4-1) at Tri-County (1-4, 1-4)
Nokomis was scheduled to play Cerro Gordo-Bement this week prior to the Arcola/CGB co-op agreement; any school that does not or cannot fill the CGB hole in its schedule has the option to receive a victory by forfeit.
LITTLE ILLINI CONFERENCE – WEEK 6
Newton (1-4, 0-3) at Paris (3-2, 1-2)
Marshall (3-2, 1-2) at Casey-Westfield (5-0, 3-0)
Lawrenceville (1-4, 0-3) at Robinson (2-3, 1-2)
Mt. Carmel (3-2, 3-0) at Olney (5-0, 3-0)
OTHER WEEK 6 GAMES OF NOTE
Salem (2-3, 1-1) at Breese Central (4-1, 2-0)
Breese Mater Dei (1-4) at Miller Career Academy, St. Louis (2-3)
Marion (3-2, 1-1) at Centralia (4-1, 1-0)