EFFINGHAM — Below is need-to-know information on all three high school football games in the Effingham Daily News area.
Mattoon at Effingham (H.S.)
Series History (since 2011): Effingham leads, 7-6
Last Meeting: 2023. Effingham won, 42-21
Last Week: Breese (Mater Dei) def. Effingham, 35-20. Monticello def. Mattoon, 40-14.
Notes: The Greenwave are 0-3, losing to Decatur (MacArthur) (47-6), Olney (Richland County) (24-22) and Monticello (40-14). Junior Shayden Neff leads the team at quarterback. He has thrown for 429 yards on 32-of-60 passing and two touchdowns to five interceptions this season. His top target is senior Cale Kimbro, who has 12 receptions for 187 yards. Senior Jake Butler adds 10 catches for 113 yards. Junior Cooper Spencer has five receptions for 68 yards. Senior Trysten Sewell has three catches for 52 yards. Junior Kamden Tinsman has two catches for nine yards and senior Benjamin Capitosti has one catch for one yard. Sewell is the team’s leading rusher, with 55 carries for 254 yards. Neff has 26 carries for 84 yards. Junior Brayden Dailey has 16 carries for 75 yards. Capitosti has seven carries for 27 yards and Kimbro has three carries for negative yardage.
Mt. Carmel at Newton
Series History (since 2021): Mt. Carmel leads, 3-0.
Last Meeting: 2023. Mt. Carmel won, 49-7.
Last Week: Casey-Westfield def. Newton, 36-3. Mt. Carmel def. Robinson, 44-13.
Notes: The Golden Aces picked up their first win of the season in Week 3, defeating Robinson, 44-13. Before that, Mt. Carmel fell to Gibson Southern (Ind.) (42-6) and Effingham (26-22). Sophomore Shain Meador has thrown for 92 yards on 4-of-10 passing and two touchdowns. Senior Tobias Fullop is the team’s leading receiver, catching two passes for 73 yards. Junior Jack Webb added two catches for 19 yards. The Golden Aces will do the bulk of their work on the ground. Junior Elliott Acree has 44 carries for 344 yards this season to lead the team. Meador has 33 carries for 130 yards. Sophomore Jackson Kling has 25 carries for 110 yards. Fullop has nine carries for 71 yards. Junior Xander Bader added eight carries for 56 yards. Sophomore Sitaleki Militoni has four carries for 16 yards. Freshman Paul-Ray Garrett has five carries for seven yards. Senior Andrew Militoni has three carries for two yards and junior Gabe Cirunay has one for no yardage.
Villa Grove at Toledo (Cumberland)
Series History (since 2014): Cumberland leads, 8-2.
Last Meeting: 2023. Cumberland won, 18-7.
Last Week: Sullivan/Bethany (Okaw Valley) def. Cumberland, 42-6. Nokomis def. Villa Grove, 62-13.
Notes: The Blue Devils are 0-3, losing to Sullivan/Bethany (Okaw Valley) (36-12), Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond (42-20) and Nokonis (62-13). Lukas Shadwick is the team’s quarterback, throwing for 277 yards on 19-of-49 passing and two touchdowns to three interceptions this season. His top target is senior Noah Wilcoxon, who has six receptions for 143 yards. Junior Aidan Henry has seven receptions for 81 yards. Junior Thomas Vandeventer has six catches for 54 yards. Cadyn Kamp has three catches for 20 yards. Senior Hunter Butts has two catches for 19 yards. Sophomore Jacob Golightly has one catch for 16 yards. Freshman Gavin Taylor has one catch for 13 yards and Nolan Shadwick has one catch for six yards. Butts is the team’s leading rusher, carrying the football 25 times for 86 yards. Lukas Shadwick has 11 carries for 46 yards. Freshman Max Wilson has six carries for 18 yards. Senior Nolan Morse has six carries for 16 yards and sophomore Jackson Gire has one for six yards.