The undefeated Bulldogs have steamrolled their competition so far as the No. 4 ranked team in Class 5A looks to become playoff eligible with a win at home. Meanwhile, the 0-4 Trojans are going to be heavy underdogs as the team looks for their first win of the season. 

Here is the preview of tonight’s game. 

TEAM RECORDS: Charleston (0-4, 0-3) @ Mahomet-Seymour (4-0, 3-0)

PAST RESULTS: The Trojans have lost to Effingham 31-14, Lincoln 20-0, and Herscher 41-30. Charleston is coming off of a 35-14 loss at home to Collinsville last week. 

“We had a first-and-25 to start the game and we told them that 80 percent of teams that start in that position do not score,” said Payne. “It showed how well we can play. Once we got into the second half, we settled down. I know the score was 21-7 at the half, but we played better in the second half than what we did to start, so there’s a lot of positives”

The Bulldogs have owned their opponents this season. The team began the season with a 51-14 win over Morton, followed by a 35-14 win over Effingham, a 49-14 win over Mount Zion, and a 63-14 win over Lincoln. 

TICKETS: Tickets will be sold at the entrance of Mahomet-Seymour’s football field. 

SCHOOL SIZE: Charleston (796), Mahomet-Seymour (943)

KICKOFF: 7 p.m.

OPPONENT’S HISTORY: 2005 Charleston High School alumni Jon Adkins took over for Keith Pogue in 2019. Pogue owned a 72-39 record in 11 years at the school. Adkins went 4-5 his first season and then maneuvered past a tough COVID year. Last season, the Bulldogs finished the regular season undefeated and made the Elite 8 before falling in the playoffs. The team finished 11-1 last year. 

MAHOMET-SEYMOUR’S RUNNING GAME: Junior Luke Johnson leads the team with 648 yards on 83 carries with seven touchdowns. He owns two games with over 100 yards rushing this season. Johnson owns 648 of the team’s overall 869 rushing yards, averaging 162 yards per game. 

MAHOMET-SEYMOUR’S  PASSING GAME: Wyatt Bohm is a First-Team All-Apollo quarterback from last season. This year, he has completed 54 of 90 passes for 884 yards. That includes 14 touchdown passes and one interception. He is averaging 221 yards passing and owns a quarterback rating of 128.0. There are two top receivers, both seniors. Quenton Rogers leads the team with 432 yards receiving on 20 receptions and seven touchdowns. Valiant Walsh is second on the team with 246 yards receiving on 16 receptions and six touchdowns. 

MAHOMET SEYMOUR’S DEFENSE: Senior Brennan Houser leads the team with 23 solo tackles and 29 overall tackles for the season. Benjamin Wagner, another senior, owns six tackles for loss in part to his 21 tackles for the season and 19 solo tackles. Nick Golden was an Honorable-Mention All-State linebacker last year and owns 15 tackles and four tackles for loss. Wagner leads the team with 3.0 sacks, while Houser added 2.0. The defense owns just one interception on the season and six fumble recoveries. 

“They are a really good football team,” said Payne. “We are going to try and compete. Nobody has scored more than 14 points on them. That is one of our goals. If we can do that, it will be something good for us that will be better than everyone else.”

MISCELLANEOUS: The weather is projected to be 57 degrees at kickoff with a humidity of 67% and an 8% chance of rain. 

CHARLESTON’S RUNNING GAME: The Trojans have gained 484 yards in four games, a 121 yard average. Jeremiah Hayes leads the team with 149 yards rushing on 25 carries– a 6.0 average – and one touchdown. Quarterback Brett Spour adds 32 rushes for 89 yards and a touchdown while Langdon King has gained 80 yards on 25 carries. 

CHARLESTON’S PASSING GAME: Spour has completed 45 of 81 passes for 508 yards and five touchdowns and two interceptions. In his last two games, Luke Bonnstetter has pulled in 10 receptions for 135 yards and two touchdowns. Luke Nelson owns 12 receptions for 118 yards receiving. 

CHARLESTON DEFENSE: The Trojans have allowed 933 yards rushing – about 233 per game – and 1,473 yards overall. That’s nearly 500 a game. CHS is also ad a significant disadvantage on first downs, 70-34.

WHAT MAHOMET-SEYMOUR SAID: “Honestly, it’s just another game for us,” said Adkins. “It’s another opportunity for us to improve and continue to get better towards our ultimate goal. Charleston is very young this year. We are extremely tough to spot because we are so versatile. We have weapons on weapons on the outside and then a very strong running game. We get very creative on the offensive and give you a million and one different looks to line up against, so put all that with our experience and yes I would agree we are very tough to stop.”

WHAT CHARLESTON SAID: “We were hoping for five wins this year,” said Payne. “Realistically, I believe we should be 2-2. We believe those first two games should have been ours if we cut out the mistakes. Effingham, we played terribly. Collinsville was really good. I believe we should have won the first two, but here we are with five games left. When you look at the schedule, we believe there are three wins out there. We have to just execute on Friday. If we do, we have a chance. It will be hard to say the least, but if you want to be a team that could make the Final Four, you have to execute.”