Sports Editor

Right in the thick of things.

That’s where Charles Henderson (4-1) and head coach Hugh Fountain find themselves, heading into Friday night’s contest against the Greenville Tigers (1-5).

With wins over Southside-Selma and Monroe County, the Trojans have upped their regional record to 2-1, the only loss coming against Hillcrest-Evergreen. After playing at Greenville on Friday, the Trojans will face region leader Carroll-Ozark and Wilcox-Central at home.

"That’s

a positive for us," said Fountain. "Friday night will be our last road game of the season, then we get three straight at home to close it out."

The Trojans also play Andalusia at home on Oct. 27, before facing Wilcox-Central – a team that is ranked No. 8 in this week’s ASWA Class 5A poll – to finish of the year.

Should both the Trojans and the Tigers win out, that last game could be for the regional championship.

"We can’t look that far ahead," said Fountain. "There’s still a lot of football to be played. I believe Carroll, Hillcrest and even Greenville will have something to say about it before it’s all over."

Greenville’s only win thus far

this season came against Southside-Selma, but Fountain said the Tigers’ record can be misleading.

"They’ve played some tough, tough competition this year," he said. "Smiths Station, Stanhope-Elmore…there’s a lot of teams out there who would have the same record as Greenville does, facing those sort of teams."

In the 80s and early 90s, Greenville was synonymous with Class 5A football, taking state titles in 1987 and 1994. In the past two or three years, however, the Tigers have been on somewhat of a downward spiral. Greenville was 2-9 last season and have a new coach this year in Terry Moore.

"Greenville’s not going to be down for long," Fountain said. "They take a lot of pride in football over there and I’m sure they’ll be up and winning again soon."

Fountain said the Tigers will utilize the wishbone formation against the Trojans’ defense.

"They’re an option-orientated football team and like to run," he said. "They’ll break the wishbone every now and then and pass, but they like to keep it on the ground."

Senior Terrence Kelly is questionable for Friday’s game. Kelly reinjured his knee against Southside-Selma when he attempted to make a cut while running down the field on a kickoff. Kelly strained a knee ligament three weeks ago during the Trojans loss to Hillcrest.