The defense of Charles Henderson High got a first-half lead and that was all they needed as they kept Rehobeth High out of the end zone all night in a 6-0 CHHS win Friday in Troy’s Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The victory moves CHHS to 1-1 on the year and 1-0 in Class 5A, Region 2 play, while the Rebels slip to 1-1 and 0-1 in the region.

“The biggest thing is our boys found a way to win, they knew that Rehobeth has played us tough each and every year, and we knew what we were going to get,” said CHHS Head Coach Brad McCoy. “Rehobeth is a much improved football team. We had some plays that we wish we could have back, but I am going to take full blame for anything that was called that didn’t work.

“But my hat is off to our defense. Anytime you pitch a shutout, that is huge on that side of the ball. Coach (Travis) Baxley and his staff did a tremendous job. This is really the third week in a row that we have had an unconventional type of offense to get ready for, and that is hard. Our defense really bowed their neck inside the 10 and got the takeaway when we had to have it (in the fourth quarter) and I am proud of them. They bowed their neck.”

Each team traded possessions and fought to a scoreless first quarter, before the Trojans got the ball at their own 15 and mounted a scoring drive, moving 85 yards in seven plays. Quarterback Pooka Jones found Javen Hill open for a 49-yard reception down to the Rehobeth 5, and three plays later Jones ran in from the 1-yard line and a 6-0 CHHS lead. The extra point was no good with 5:15 remaining in the half.

Rehobeth moved to the CHHS 36, before Malcolm Hall picked off a pass to end that Rebel drive.

In the second half neither team could establish a drive as CHHS committed three turnovers and Rehobeth had one.

The Rebels threatened to score the game-tying touchdown with less than three minutes remaining in the game when they drove to the CHHS 6-yard line, but on third and two a fumble was recovered by J.B. Sanders, ending the scoring threat and allowing the Trojans to take possession and run out the clock.

Unofficial stats had CHHS running back Jonathan Carter rushing for 48 yards on 15 carries, while Jones was 6 of 15 in passing for 126 yards.

Brandon Austin rushed for 72 yards for the Rebels, while quarterback Jay Trawick was 2 of 5 for 22 yards.

CHHS committed four turnovers on the evening, losing one fumble and three interceptions, while Rehobeth gave away one fumble and one interception.

The Trojans are on the road next Friday when they travel to Class 6A Oxford High.

“We’ve got a lot of mistakes to fix,” said Coach McCoy. “Offensively we’ve got two starting linemen that are down and we are really feeling the burn on that one, especially in the run game.

“We don’t have any more time to rest. We had Enterprise last week and we have another powerful 6A team with Oxford, on the road, 3 1/2 hours away. We’ve got to get healed up and get in the training room and get ready to play.”