Football Game Preview: Mt. Zion Braves vs. Effingham Hearts

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Previous Games

10/18/24 - Home	28-0 W
10/28/23 - Home	21-2 W
10/13/23 - Away	14-21 L
09/30/22 - Away	39-36 W
10/01/21 - Home	27-28 L
+ 5 more games

Mt. Zion and Effingham are an even 5-5 against one another since October of 2016, but not for long. The Braves will venture away from home to challenge the Hearts at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Mt. Zion knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 31 points or more in their past four contests -- so hopefully Effingham likes a good challenge.

Mt. Zion's defense heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They blew past Charleston 70-0. Given the Braves' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois football rankings (they are ranked 47th, while the Trojans are ranked 356th) , the win wasn't entirely unexpected.

Keller Stocks produced another solid effort throwing for 279 yards and four TDs while completing 83.3% of his passes, and also punching in one touchdown on the ground. JC Anderson was another key player, gaining 113 total yards and three touchdowns.

Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Mt. Zion proved: they limited Charleston to a paltry 1.4 yards per carry. While four picked up at least one total tackle, Jacob Harvey stood above the rest. He picked up 50 receiving yards and one score. Mt. Zion's run defense has been on the up-and-up: they allowed 3.27 yards per carry earlier this season, but they've only allowed 6.5 on average over their last five games.

Mt. Zion didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Holden McCoy and Jaxon Good.

Meanwhile, Effingham played a tough matchup on Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were outmatched by Mahomet-Seymour and fell 49-7. The Hearts haven't had much luck with the Bulldogs recently, as the team has come up short the last five times they've met.

Mt. Zion's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 5-1. Those home wins came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 9.3 points on average over those games. As for Effingham, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-3.

Everything came up roses for Mt. Zion against Effingham in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, as the team secured a 28-0 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Braves since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.