Published on August 27, 2026 8:55 am
Last Updated on August 27, 2026 8:55 am
Senior Night for Effingham High School football coincides with its home opener this year as Mt. Carmel comes calling for a Week 2 non-conference matchup Friday at Klosterman Field at Washington Savings Bank Stadium.
Pregame festivities planned include introduction of the dozen senior football players on this year’s EHS roster; recognitions of senior cheerleaders and Red Regiment marching band members are also planned.
The Golden Aces (1-0) got their season started with 50-22 drubbing of visiting DuQuoin, while the Flaming Hearts (0-1) traveled to Breese and lost 41-20 to the Central Cougars despite having the game tied at 20 late in the first half.
This is Mt. Carmel’s fourth year occupying Week 2 on the Effingham slate, but a scheduling quirk means this is the Hearts’ first home date with the Golden Aces since falling 36-30 in two overtimes in 2023. The last two seasons, EHS has taken the bus to Mt. Carmel’s infamous Snake Pit and reboarded those buses with 26-22 and 35-14 victories.
Junior quarterback River Deisher put on a show for Mt. Carmel in the DuQuoin win, completing 13 of 15 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns against one interception while also carrying the ball 16 times for 179 yards and four more scores. He hit half a dozen different receivers with passes and handed the ball to senior tailback Sitaleki Militoni 10 times for 111 yards and a TD.
In his first start at QB, Effingham senior Jack Hartman had a strong debut with 11-of-18 passing for 268 yards and three scores against one interception. Sophomore Jenner Keyes also got a couple late series at the position and amassed a team high 56 rushing yards during his time in the fray.
Maxx Kistler, Jenner Pals and Brayden Baudier each caught a touchdown while Kellen Richmond and Ian Kinkelaar chipped in a couple receptions apiece as well. Aside from Keyes’ late success running the football, EHS will look to open better lanes for the tailback combo of Lexton Roberts and Bryden Kade to improve upon their combined 41 yards on 16 carries.
Kickoff Friday night is 7 p.m. with the pregame show beginning at 6:45 here on your home for Hearts Football, 979 XFM and 979xfm.com.
There’ll be a number of storylines to follow this year … a new quarterback mixed in with quite a bit of varsity experience returning at the tailback and receiver spots, some very solid players returning on defense and both lines but needing to gel with new faces, an always challenging Apollo Conference, and IHSA’s new expanded playoff field.
Also in the area: Cumberland (0-1) hosts Villa Grove/Heritage (0-1) as both teams search for their first Lincoln Prairie Conference victory. Newton (0-1) has another week before opening Little Illini Conference play as it opens its home schedule with a non-conference tilt against Trenton Wesclin (0-1).
As far as the rest of the Apollo Conference, it’s more non-conference play as well. Charleston (0-1) has El Paso-Gridley (1-0) paying a visit to Trojan Hill, Mahomet-Seymour (1-0) welcomes Normal U-High (0-1), Mattoon (0-1) heads to Rantoul (0-1) and Taylorville (1-0) is at Canton (1-0).
Mt. Zion is already 2-0 and will be idle this week; the Braves were to host Decatur Eisenhower this week but learned in the days leading up to the opening of the IHSA football season that Eisenhower was canceling its varsity schedule and forfeiting all scheduled games unless its slated opponents were able and willing to find an alternate opponent.
Other Effingham opponents for 2026 in action this week include Breese Central (1-0) hitting the road to Columbia (1-0) for Cahokia Conference play, Breese Mater Dei (0-1) traveling to Casey-Westfield (1-0), and Centralia (1-0) playing its first ever Cahokia Conference game on the road at Bethalto Civic Memorial (1-0).