Keyhea is part of an offense that has been averaging 36 points a game. The Braves have used dual sophomore quarterbacks – Tyson Evans and Makobi Adams. They have combined to complete 46-of-80 passes for 726 yards and 13 touchdowns, while throwing just one interception. Tailback Mathias Adams has run for 409 yards.
“Their quarterbacks are young, but they’re pretty good,” Hefner said. “Their huge up front, they’re playing fewer kids both ways and they’ve got several guys back. Plus, they’re fundamentally sound, well-coached and will always play hard.”
The Braves lone defeat was a 35-27 setback to conference leader Mahomet-Seymour. They have defeated Limestone 44-13, Mattoon 31-7, Taylorville 55-14 and Lincoln 27-22.
The Hearts are 2-3 following last week’s 27-7 win at Taylorville. And, according to Coach Hefner, getting better.
“We’re seeing less mistakes each week, but still have a tendency to make mistakes at critical times,” Hefner said. “Against the higher echelon teams on our schedule, like Mt. Zion, there’s just not much margin for error. We need to take care of the football and eliminate those negative plays.”
One of the areas Hefner has seen improvement is the play of his offensive line. That was evident last week when the Hearts ran the ball 56 times and compiled 285 yards. Junior running back John Westendorf cracked the 100-yard plateau for the second time this season, racking up 156 yards on 27 carries. He has now gained 580 yards on 103 attempts, an average of 6.2 yards per rush and 116 per game.
And that ground attack will need to continue Friday night.
“We have to be able to run the ball,” the veteran coach emphasized. “They have a very explosive offense, so we have to keep the ball away from them. We’ll still need to make a few plays through the air, but for us to have any chance, we have to control the ball and sustain long drives.”
Just like the Hearts did last spring when they posted a 34-21 win over the Braves that clinched the Apollo Conference championship. In that game, EHS ran twice as many plays and controlled the ball for nearly 75 percent of the time.
“We need a repeat of that game last spring,” Hefner explained. “That’s the best way to beat Mt. Zion. You have to keep their offense off the field.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday.
