There have been nights in previous years where Booker T. Washington was scheduled as a Homecoming opponent for Charles Henderson High – and many other teams for that matter – and the Golden Eagles would be beaten so badly the CHHS second and third team would be in the game by halftime.

Friday night was not one of those nights.

CHHS Head Coach Brad McCoy warned his Trojans that this Booker T. Washington team was different, and had better be respected. When CHHS walked off of Troy’s Veterans-Memorial Stadium with a 21-12 win, many of the Trojans likely believed McCoy’s words.

“I told everybody coming into this game that their football team (Booker T. Washington) is a good football team,” said McCoy. “They had a lot of the right type of kids to run their offense, to run their defense, and it showed. I don’t think a lot of people believed me, but it showed tonight. But it also showed that when you have a team like ours that was not locked in and focused on the job at hand and their mind is somewhere else, then you let things like turnovers, penalties and missed tackles happen, and you give them a chance to play way above their means, and we really underachieved tonight in my opinion. The score on the scoreboard is the only positive I am going to take from tonight’s game.”

Booker T. is a much improved team over the hapless Golden Eagle teams of the past, entering the game at 2-1 and led by junior running back Dyrese Hubbard, who rushed unofficially for 232 yards and a touchdown against CHHS Friday night.

With the win CHHS stands at 2-2 and 2-1 in the Class 5A, Region 2, while Booker T. is also 2-2 and now 1-2 in region competition.

The Golden Eagles took the opening kickoff and got on the board first when quarterback Marquavious Robinson capped a 50-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown carry, and with 8:34 the try for two points was unsuccessful and Booker T. led 6-0.

The Trojans took the lead in the opening minutes of the second quarter when Kobe Griffin intercepted a pass by Robinson to give CHHS the ball at their own 27, and seven plays later senior running back Jabronski Williams took it in from 10-yards out and the extra point by Cameron Bush was good for a 7-6 lead with 9:34 to go in the first half.

On the next CHHS possession Jared Wilson scored on a 6-yard carry, capping a three-play, 31-yard drive, and the Bush kick put CHHS up 14-6 with 4:16 remaining in the second quarter.

The Trojans kicked off to the Golden Eagles and on the first play from scrimmage Hubbard took the handoff and raced 78 yards up the middle and again the two-point conversion failed, cutting the CHHS lead to 14-12 with 3:51 to go in the first half.

The second half opened with CHHS getting the ball and moving 65 yards in six plays, with sophomore quarterback D.Q. Toney completing five consecutive passes including a 30-yard TD strike to junior wide receiver Jordan Dixon. Bush again drilled the extra point for the 21-12 CHHS lead with 9:42 to go in the third quarter.

From there the Trojans lost two fumbles on their next two possessions and punted the final two series they had the ball as the final score stood at 21-12.

Toney finished the night 8-of-8 in passing for 171 yards and one TD.

Williams was the leading rusher for CHHS with 60 yards and a TD while Wilson picked up 43 yards.

The schedule is difficult for CHHS in the next three weeks, and McCoy expects his team to make less mistakes if they expect to compete.

“You really want to be playing good football right now,” said McCoy. “We’ve got Stanhope Elmore, Trinity and Eufaula. Our next three ballgames are just as tough as the ones we opened up with, in UMS-Wright, Carroll High and Greenville. Our kids have got to make a decision on what they want out of this team. Yes we have got good athletes, but right now an athlete does not make a great football player and I have said that before and I really mean it with all my heart. You’ve got to have more than just a great physique, run fast, jump high and lift a lot of weights. You’ve got to have a heart and the mental capacity to do what the coaches are asking you to do, and anything less than that is not going to meet my expectations, nor anyone else’s that is trying to make this program great. That is what we want, but we have to get everyone else bought into that.”

CHHS is at Stanhope Elmore next Friday night.