Published on October 15, 2025 9:57 pm
Last Updated on October 15, 2025 9:57 pm
The stakes are simple for Effingham High School heading into the final two weeks of regular season football: either win twice on the road to get playoff eligible or miss the postseason for a second straight year.
That’s what the Hearts know they’re playing for as they close out the Apollo Conference portion of their schedule Friday night at Mattoon, traveling to take on a Green Wave team searching for its first victory since Week 2.
Effingham (3-4, 1-3 Apollo) is in the midst of its own three-game losing streak but enters action coming off an inspired effort against state-ranked Mt. Zion in a 31-7 defeat at Klosterman Field. The Hearts haven’t lost to Mattoon since 2021 and have definitely turned the tables on this annual matchup since the Green Wave joined the Apollo in 2012 and won the first five meetings between the two.
Mattoon (1-6, 0-4) has only beaten Rantoul this year by a 42-0 margin; Rantoul is 0-7 and as a program has won exactly one game since the beginning of the 2019 season. That victory and a 37-35 loss to Charleston account for 77 of the 102 points the Green Wave have managed to score this year.
So it’s certainly a winnable game for Hearts, but they’re obviously past the point of being able to afford anything less than the same effort they put forth in making a remarkably gifted Mt. Zion squad earn its sixth W of the campaign last week. If they can take care of business one more time in Coles County – they already won at Charleston earlier this season – it sets up a “win and you’re in” scenario at Centralia in the regular season finale next week.
Game time, as always, is 7 p.m. Friday at Mattoon High School’s Gaines Field. You can tune in at 6:45 p.m. for pregame coverage on your Home for Hearts Football, 979 XFM.
APOLLO CONFERENCE – WEEK 8
Effingham (3-4, 1-3) at Mattoon (1-6, 0-4)
Mt. Zion (6-1, 4-0) at Taylorville (4-3, 3-1)
Mahomet-Seymour (4-3, 3-1) at Charleston (1-6, 1-3)
LINCOLN PRAIRIE CONFERENCE – WEEK 8
Cumberland (6-1, 6-1) at Nokomis (5-2, 5-2)
Arcola/CGB (0-6, 0-6) at Tri-County (1-6, 1-6)
Argenta-Oreana (2-5, 2-4) at Sangamon Valley (1-6, 1-5)
Villa Grove (5-2, 5-2) at Sullivan (5-2, 5-2)
Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond (7-0, 7-0) 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 8
Newton (2-5, 1-4) at Lawrenceville (1-6, 0-5)
Olney (7-0, 5-0) at Casey-Westfield (7-0, 5-0)
Mt. Carmel (3-4, 3-2) at Marshall (4-3, 2-3)
Paris (4-3, 2-3) at Robinson (3-4, 2-3)
OTHER WEEK 8 GAMES OF NOTE
Breese Central (6-1, 4-0) at Columbia (6-1, 3-1)
Decatur St. Teresa (2-5) at Breese Mater Dei (2-5)
Mt. Vernon (3-4, 1-2) at Centralia (5-2, 2-1)