The Green Wave offense is led by quarterback Jackson Spurgeon. He threw for 202 yards against Mt. Zion and ran for 76 against Taylorville. Running back Jakai Johnson has rushed for 200 yards in the first two games.

“The quarterback is a very good athlete; their No. 1 threat,” Hefner said. “Mattoon is run oriented this year and we will need to contain him. That will certainly be one of the keys to the game.”

Another key will be the Hearts ability to show balance on offense, mixing in both the run and the pass.

“We need to be more balanced,” Hefner admitted. “We need more explosive plays, we need to eliminate bad possessions and we need to protect the football. We need to be mistake free.”

The Hearts are coming off a 34-14 win in their home opener over Charleston. Effingham forced two early turnovers, converted both into touchdowns and were never seriously threatened.

“I felt like we were more focused last week,” Hefner said. “We had more of a normal week, as far as our football routine was concerned. It was our first full week of practice outside with all of our kids. We had a better week of game-planning and you could just see our focus was better.”

But the Hearts did fumble the ball three times, losing two of them, and they were whistled for seven penalties, three of which were jumping offside on defense.

“Those aren’t things we typically do and we can’t continue to do them moving forward,” Hefner said. “We also need to improve the timing in our passing game, although with another full week of reps, I think we’ll see that get better.

“And we have to find ways to create more explosive plays,” the veteran coach added. “We had one Friday night, but we need more than that each game.”

After two games, the Hearts are averaging 358 yards on offense, with 63 percent of those coming on the ground. Chase Woomer and Trevor Donsbach have proved to be a good 1-2 punch so far. Woomer has rushed for 277 yards and Donsbach has added an additional 144, helping EHS rack up 449 yards on the ground.

In the first two varsity starts of his career, quarterback Nate Thompson has completed 21-of-43 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns. His favorite target has been Tristin Duncan. The speedy receiver has caught 12 passes for 185 yards and a TD.

Defensively, the Hearts are allowing 226 yards per game. They have recorded eight quarterback sacks, intercepted two passes, recovered two fumbles and blocked a punt. Linebacker Jacob Stoneburner has 26 tackles in two games.

Coach Hefner said his team showed improvement last week and expects to see even more Friday night in Mattoon.

“We made more plays in the passing game and I liked how we got off to a fast start. Those two early turnovers really helped,” Hefner noted. “I thought our tackling was better and I thought we played pretty well up front. And I always like our effort and the way our kids come ready to compete.

 “I don’t think these kids realize just how good they can be,” Hefner added. “But we have four short weeks to work hard and try to get to that level. And it begins with Mattoon on Friday night. That’s the only thing we’re focused on right now.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.