{"id":46474,"date":"2026-09-10T21:31:03","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T02:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=46474"},"modified":"2026-09-10T21:31:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T02:31:52","slug":"ehs-charleston-each-eyeing-first-win-of-season-in-apollo-conference-opener-at-klosterman-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/sports\/football\/46474-ehs-charleston-each-eyeing-first-win-of-season-in-apollo-conference-opener-at-klosterman-field\/","title":{"rendered":"EHS, Charleston Each Eyeing First Win of Season in Apollo Opener"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"image_print\"Print<\/span><\/a><\/div>

Someone will walk away from Klosterman Field at Washington Savings Bank Stadium Friday night with their first varsity football victory of the season.<\/p>\n

Will it be Effingham High School defending its home field on Military Appreciation Night or will it be the visiting Charleston Trojans snagging a road win in the opening week of Apollo Conference play?<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll know soon enough.<\/p>\n

Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. with a 6:45 pregame show here on your home for Hearts Football, 979 XFM and 979xfm.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Both squads are 0-3 after the early non-conference portion of their schedules; Effingham is coming off its worst defeat of the year by a 45-7 margin at Breese Mater Dei while Charleston gave Carterville a bit more of a battle, dropping its first road game of the year 42-28.<\/p>\n

One thing each team\u2019s Week 3 opponent has in common is an appearance in the latest Associated Press polls. Mater Dei got votes in Class 3A while Carterville did likewise in 4A. Neither cracked the top ten \u2026 for now.<\/p>\n

Charleston has put an average of 30 points per week on the board, a healthy number buoyed heavily by the efforts of senior tailback Treylin Couch. The defending first-team All-Apollo selection has racked up 573 of the Trojans\u2019 662 rushing yards and half of their 10 rushing touchdowns.<\/p>\n

The problem for the Trojans is they\u2019ve given up even more. A lot more, to be more exact. To be even more exact, no fewer than 42 in any of their three games and a total of 140 \u2026 nearly 47 per contest against Robinson, El Paso (Gridley) and Carterville. Robinson hasn\u2019t won since beating Charleston Week 1, while El Paso is ranked second in Class 2A and undefeated like Carterville.<\/p>\n

Effingham has also allowed more than 40 points per game but had at least put 20 and 28 on the board against state-ranked Breese Central and Class 3A vote-getter Mt. Carmel.<\/p>\n

Last week, the Flaming Hearts finally got their run game going (237 yards gained after a grand total of 89 the first two weeks) only to see their typically productive passing game held in check to the tune of exactly 40 yards gained after amassing more than 500 over the previous couple outings.<\/p>\n

After finding little running room to run early in the season, Lexton Roberts found the end zone for the second time on the year and amassed 114 yards on 19 carries while backup tailback Bryden Kade and change-of-page quarterback Jenner Keyes combined for 116 more on 27 attempts.<\/p>\n

Brady Patnaude deserves a shout-out for his early season special teams work; the senior kicker\/punter has punted 14 times at an average of 32.7 yards per attempt with excellent hang time to boot. He\u2019s also 7-for-8 on extra point attempts.<\/p>\n

Junior lineman Lukas Wilson made his presence felt defensively at Mater Dei, racking up five of his 11 tackles on the season and causing plenty of other problems for the Knights throughout the evening.<\/p>\n

Staying on tackling numbers for a moment, senior linebacker Mason Bushue (26), junior defensive back Cole Henderson (23) and senior defensive end Clinton Metcalf (21) are atop the team leaderboard.<\/p>\n

Takeaways haven\u2019t been commonplace to this point, but junior safety Luke Harper owns Effingham\u2019s lone interception while senior cornerback Chase Starkey has the lone fumble recovery.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the Apollo, state-ranked Mahomet-Seymour (3-0) travels to Taylorville (2-1) on the heels of a 41-7 road win at Champaign Central. The Bulldogs hold steady at No. 2 in the Class 5A poll while the Tornadoes are stinging from their first loss of the campaign, 48-7 at Carbondale.<\/p>\n

Mt. Zion (2-1) also lost its first game last week with a 20-7 home decision against Cahokia. They look to get back on track at Mattoon (1-2); the Green Wave went to Salem for Week 3 and the Wildcats turned them away 29-7.<\/p>\n

Also in the area: Cumberland (1-2) ran roughshod over Argenta-Oreana last week for its first win but faces a tall task if it wants to even its Lincoln Prairie Conference mark; the Pirates host undefeated Arthur-Lovington\/Atwood-Hammod. ALAH hasn\u2019t scored fewer than 42 points this year and has allowed just 40 all season.<\/p>\n

Newton opened Little Illini Conference play with a 42-14 trouncing of Casey-Westfield last week; things will get a little tougher for the Eagles as unbeaten Mt. Carmel waits at its infamous Snake Pit for a Week 4 showdown.<\/p>\n

Other Effingham opponents for 2026 in action this week include state-ranked Breese Central (3-0) traveling to Waterloo (2-1), the aforementioned Mt. Carmel Golden Aces (3-0) facing Newton, Breese Mater Dei (2-1) beginning their foray into Metro-Valley Conference play with a trip to Roxana (1-2), and state-ranked Centralia (3\u20130) traveling to Freeburg (3-0) in a battle of unbeatens who have – to this point – obliterated all opposition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Someone will walk away from Klosterman Field at Washington Savings Bank Stadium Friday night with their first varsity football victory of the season. 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