It’s Effingham week for Charleston High School football, which is a big week for head coach Brian Halsey.
“Going back to [the year of] 2000, it’s just always been a rivalry for me,” Halsey said.
Halsey is 7-11 against the Flaming Hearts during both his stints as head coach of the Trojans. Last year, he coached the first Charleston team to beat Effingham in 11 years, a 21-17 victory at Trojan Hill thanks in part to three Charleston takeaways.
This year, Halsey says Charleston (3-1, 0-1) and Effingham (3-1, 1-0) match up well, with both teams still having a lot to prove.
“We’re two football teams that are trying to fight to stay in contention for the conference, and we’re also trying to qualify for the playoffs,” Halsey said.
It seems like a season of déjà vu for the Trojans, who started the 2023 season 3-0 with wins against Paris and Jersey in weeks two and three. The squad last year went into its week five matchup against Effingham off the back of a loss to Mahomet-Seymour in week four.
It has been a similar story this season.
After a 25-18 win over Paris in week two, and a 45-34 win over Jersey in week three, the Trojans opened conference play last week with a 56-3 loss to Mahomet-Seymour.
Now Charleston wants to get back on track against Effingham.
The Flaming Hearts are coming off a 52-29 home win against Mattoon, a game that was dominated by senior running back Weldon Dunston IV.
On 28 carries, Dunston racked up 305 yards, averaging almost 11 yards per carry. Of the six touchdowns that Effingham scored last week, Dunston had five of them.
Dunston’s success this season goes beyond one game. In the first four weeks of the season, Dunston has rushed for 891 yards on 109 carries. Effingham scored 18 offensive touchdowns this season, and Dunston is responsible for 15 of them.
“I want to see how we do against such a strong running game,” Halsey said. “That running back is probably the best in the conference and in the area.”
Stopping him is going to be a major key to a win for the Trojans. Another big focus is to limit the mistakes, especially on special teams.
Last week against Mahomet-Seymour, the Trojans made multiple crucial mistakes and were beaten on special teams. Two bad snaps over junior punter Max Weber’s head, a punt returned for a touchdown, the opening kickoff returned for a touchdown and a recovered onside kick.
“I don’t know if they were intimidated or what,” Halsey said. “But we had breakdowns, and you can’t do that on special teams in big games.”
Charleston’s offense should be able to take advantage of an Effingham defense that is weaker than in years past.
The Flaming Hearts have given up 116 points through the first four weeks, the most the team has given up in that timespan since 2012.
Halsey says he’s looking for the team to make improvements on Friday. He said the Trojans have to move the ball, but that ultimately, it’s going to come down to tackling, special teams and limiting the errors.
“We know that we can’t continually make mistakes and stub our toes against these formidable opponents,” Halsey said.
Kickoff at Effingham High School is set for 7 p.m Friday.
Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at ghnewman@eiu.edu.
