Admittedly, there are things the team needs to improve. But Hefner, like most coaches, knows that the biggest improvement normally occurs between Week 1 and Week 2.

“That’s always when you see the biggest jump,” Hefner explained. “We’ll need to see some things improve and I think we will see it. We’ve been able to get outside to practice this week and everybody is now getting into the football mode. I really expect our play to improve.”

We’ll find out Friday night. The Hearts will play their home opener against Charleston at Jack Klosterman Field.

The Trojans will also enter the Apollo Conference contest with a 1-0 record after posting a 54-0 thrashing over Lincoln.

“Coming into the season, I thought Charleston was the dark horse in our conference,” Hefner said. “They have almost everybody back with eight starters returning on both offense and defense. People tend to overlook them because they haven’t had much success the last few years. But they’re the team that I thought would be much, much, much improved.”

As for the Trojans defense that shutout the Railsplitters, Hefner described them as “fast and very physical. I really like their effort to the football. They are very well coached.”

Like many teams do today, Charleston runs the spread on offense. The Trojans are led by senior running back Cory Spour.

“They like to spread you out, open it up and let their running back take off,” Hefner noted. “They do a nice job blocking up front and that running back is big, physical and explosive. He’s their best player on offense; their biggest threat. They want to run the ball and get him established.”

Establishing the running game is exactly what the Hearts did last week, especially in the second half.

After playing to a scoreless tie at halftime, Effingham took control in the final 24 minutes. They put together three scoring drives that accounted for 28 plays, 196 yards and took nearly a full 12 minutes off the clock. Chase Woomer, who ran for 154 yards, capped the first scoring drive with an 11-yard scoring run that put EHS on top 7-0 heading into the fourth period.

Trevor Donsbach scored on a nine-yard run and then Keegan Baker scored from 10 yards out to put the Hearts ahead 21-0 with just 48 seconds to play.

“I thought we blocked up front pretty well, especially considering we had four kids playing in their first varsity game,” Hefner said. “It just takes a while to adjust to the speed of a varsity game. We need to protect better in the passing game, but I thought that was even better in the second half.”

Seniors Nathan Barnes (tackle) and Ethan Huss (guard) are returning starters in the offensive line, but junior Cohen Woods (tackle) and sophomores Connor Thompson (tight end), Jacob Foster (center) and Riley Crain (guard) saw varsity action for the first time.

The Hearts ran for 227 yards, but passed for just 128. Nate Thompson, starting his first game at quarterback, was 7-for-20 throwing the ball.

“I thought Nate got much better as the game went along,” Hefner said. “Due to the bad weather last week, he only had one practice outside with the whole team. He’s had a couple good practices this week, and like everybody else, I imagine he will play better this week.

“We need to make plays in the air,” Hefner added. “We have to find ways to generate explosive plays. That’s been a big key for us the last couple years. We need to protect better up front and clean up our passing game.”

The veteran coach said, overall, his defensive unit played a pretty strong game.

“I wasn’t happy early, but again, we had some guys playing for the first time,” Hefner noted. “Mahomet gives you a lot of different looks and formations. But we kept everything in front of us and didn’t give up any huge plays. We bent, but we didn’t break. Having so many guys back on defense really helps. We need to improve our tackling, but overall, I thought they did a nice job.”

Tackling wasn’t an issue for senior linebacker Jacob Stoneburner. He recorded 18 tackles in the game to lead the Hearts. That defense also forced two turnovers, with Gunnar Franklin hauling in an interception and Kalen Reardon recovering a fumble. Austin Herboth and Zac Slifer both recorded a quarterback sack.

Even though seating will be limited to 25 percent capacity and the stands won’t be packed with fans clad in red-and-white, Hefner is looking forward to playing at home Friday night.

“If we get as much rain as they’re predicting, field conditions could be sloppy,” Hefner pointed out. “But it will still be nice to play at home.”

There will be no general admission tickets sold. Tickets are given to the players, who then in turn disperse them to mainly family members or friends.

Those who have received their final COVID vaccination at least 14 days prior to Friday night – which is March 12 or earlier -- will also be admitted to the game. They must present their vaccination card and a Photo ID to be admitted.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.