By Steve Raymond
The News Report
Virtually every coach in every sport says their team improves the most between Week 1 and Week 2.
Effingham football coach Brett Hefner is one of those.
And he’s hoping that is certainly the case with his team this week.
Yes, the Hearts are coming off a convincing 31-7 season-opening win at Robinson last Friday.
But the competition level will take a significant step forward this week when Effingham will play its home opener and welcome Mt. Carmel to Washington Savings Stadium.
“They are very, very good,” Hefner noted. “This will be like playing a team the caliber of St. Teresa.”
So even though the Hearts dominated every phase of the game against Robinson, they will need to play even better Friday night.
“Last week’s game reinforced what I thought about our defensive front being hard to handle,” Hefner said, referring his front four that recorded 11 tackles for loss, including five quarterback sacks. “I also thought there were some good things with our secondary, although they will be tested a lot more this week.
“But there are still things we need to work on,” Hefner explained. “We had some alignment issues in our defensive line that we shouldn’t have had. And in our secondary, we need to work on things like maintaining proper angles and making sure our eyes are in the right places. We’re very inexperienced in the secondary and playing at the varsity level is all new to them. And these are mistakes that can be fixed.”
By Steve Raymond
The News Report
In most football games – whether it’s high school, college or the pros – the team that controls the line of scrimmage is generally the team that comes away with the win.
That was certainly the case Friday night.
The Effingham Hearts dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The defense created two turnovers and recorded tackles for loss on 11 plays. Meanwhile, the offense amassed nearly 350 yards and found the endzone four times.
The result was a one-sided 31-7 season-opening victory at Robinson.
“There are things we need to improve on, but wins are hard to come by,” said EHS coach Brett Hefner moments after the game. “You’re always happy with a win.”
Especially after a week that was anything but normal.
“We’ve been dealt some injuries for guys that would have played quite a bit tonight,” Hefner added. “So, had some guys playing in their first varsity game and some of them playing different spots than they normally would. Plus, we had to deal with all the heat issues. It’s just been a goofy week.”
Because of the heat, game time was pushed back to 8 p.m. Friday.
During an interview about the upcoming season about a week before the game, Hefner said he would probably have to rely on his defense during the early part of the year. After losing 23 seniors to graduation, there were a lot of kids playing varsity for the first time Friday night. The most returning experience was in that defensive line.
And they did not disappoint.
The Effingham Lady Hearts and Teutopolis Lady Shoes will both be participating in the Charleston Holiday Tournament.
The tournament is scheduled for Monday through Wednesday, Dec. 26-28.
There are six teams entered in this year’s round robin event – Effingham, Teutopolis, Tri-County, Danville, Jacksonville and Charleston.
Each team will play five games and all games will be played at Charleston High School.
The full schedule is listed below:
Monday, Dec. 26:
Noon – Charleston vs. Teutopolis
1:30 p.m. – Danville vs. Jacksonville
3 p.m. – Effingham vs. Tri-County
4:30 p.m. – Danville vs. Teutopolis
6 p.m. – Effingham vs. Jacksonville
Tuesday, Dec. 27:
Noon – Tri-County vs. Danville
1:30 p.m. – Charleston vs. Effingham
3 p.m. – Tri-County vs. Jacksonville
4:30 p.m. – Teutopolis vs. Effingham
6 p.m. – Charleston vs. Jacksonville
Wednesday, Dec. 28:
Noon – Charleston vs. Danville
1:30 p.m. – Teutopolis vs. Jacksonville
3 p.m. – Charleston vs. Tri-County
4:30 p.m. – Effingham vs. Danville
6 p.m. – Teutopolis vs. Tri-County
By Steve Raymond
The News Report
Things change quickly in high school sports.
A year ago, Effingham Coach Brett Hefner welcomed back 32 lettermen. That experience helped overcome a brutal schedule, finish 5-4 in the regular season and earn a berth in the Class 4A playoffs.
Now fast forward a year.
There are 23 seniors gone from that squad. There are just three returning starters on both offense and defense, meaning there will be a lot of kids experiencing varsity action for the first time.
“Yes, we’re inexperienced in a number of spots and maybe we don’t have as much depth this year as we’ve been used to,” Hefner admitted “But if we stay healthy, this won’t be a fun team to play against.
“We’ll have to grow up quickly,” the veteran coach added. “With the quality of schedule we have, we’ll have to be ready to go Week 1. But I think there’s a chance we’ll have a pretty successful season.”
It won’t take long to find out. The Hearts kick off their 2023 season Friday night (August 25) at Robinson. The Maroons will be the first of five teams on the schedule that reached the playoffs a year ago.
“We’ll have our hands full,” Hefner said. “The non-conference teams are good and our conference is better from top to bottom this year. We’ve definitely got a quality schedule again.”
Hefner is entering his ninth season at the helm of the EHS football program. His teams have posted a 50-28 record during that span and reached the playoffs five times in the previous eight years.
The goals for the 2023 squad?
The same as every year.
“We want to compete for an Apollo Conference championship, get in the playoffs and see if we can make a run,” Hefner explained. “Those goals don’t change for us.”
By Steve Raymond
ET Sport Report
For the first 23 minutes, the huge underdog battled the heavy favorite on even terms.
With 58 seconds to play in the first half, the Effingham Hearts and Rochester Rockets were deadlocked at 14-14.
But the ensuing 11 minutes proved to be season-ending for the Hearts.
The Rockets showed why they were so heavily favored.
Rochester drove the length of the field to score just a few seconds before halftime, then racked up three touchdowns and a field goal in the third quarter, capping an 11-minute, 31-0 run that propelled the host Rockets to a 45-14 victory in an opening-round game of the Class 4A playoffs.
“They are a tough playoff team,” EHS coach Brett Hefner said following the contest. “This was the scenario that scared me. When you win five games, there’s always the chance you’re going to draw Rochester or Sacred Heart Griffin and that’s what happened.”
And yet, the Hearts defense forced four first-half turnovers and were close to going to the locker room at intermission in a tie football game.
But five pass plays later, the Rockets found the end zone. The drive included 27-yard and 23-yard completions, plus a pass interference penalty against EHS. Then with just eight seconds left, quarterback Keeton Reiss’s pass deflected off Anthony Martelli and into teammate Jack Swaney’s hands for an 11-yard scoring strike, giving the hosts a 21-14 lead.
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