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Charles Henderson seniors signed their letters-of-intent on Feb. 7. (Photo by Josh Boutwell)

Jywon Boyd

Zach Coleman

Benton Dunn

Keyontae Davis

Parker Adams

Dertavious Lee

Sterling Sharp

A total of seven Charles Henderson High School seniors signed their college letters-of-intent at a signing ceremony on Wednesday.

Charles Henderson senior Jywon Boyd will play college football at Troy University, Benton Dunn will play at Kennesaw State University, Zach Coleman will play at Jacksonville State University, both Dertavious Lee and Sterling Sharp will play at Birmingham Southern College, Keyontae Davis will play at Birmingham Prep and Parker Adams will play both football and baseball at Faulkner University.

Boyd signed with Troy back in December but waited to have his signing ceremony with his teammates during the February signing period.

Jywon Boyd

“The reason I wanted to go to Troy is the family that Troy University and the community in Troy is,” Boyd said. “I’m already a part of this community, so I wanted to stay home and put on for the people at Troy University.”

Boyd is already thinking about his goals for Troy. Boyd will begin his Troy career at receiver but is also open to playing on defense, as well.

“I have a goal to score my first career (college) touchdown and if I do get to play defense, get my first interception,” he said. “I want to win a Sun Belt Championship. I didn’t get to win a championship in high school, so I want to really work towards getting that goal accomplished in college.”

Boyd’s high school career is littered with accolades. He earned All-Messenger honors in both 2022 and 2023 and was named The Messenger’s Fall Athlete of the Year in 2021, Offensive Player of the Year in 2022 and Most Valuable Player in 2023. He also earned All-State honors in both football and basketball in 2022 and once again was named All-State in football this season. Boyd also earned Dothan Eagle Super 12 honors this season.

During his CHHS career, he tallied 3,120 yards and 44 touchdowns receiving along with 747 yards and seven touchdowns rushing. He also threw a touchdown pass and on defense earned 10 interceptions. He’s also scored touchdowns on defense and on both punt and kickoff returns.

Coleman will be heading further north in Alabama to Jacksonville State to play for successful head coach Rich Rodriguez.

Zach Coleman

“It was the culture and atmosphere there,” Coleman said of signing with Jax State. “The facilities were really nice and the people were nice there. Coach Rodriguez and Coach (Rod) McDowell left a big impression on me.”

Coleman earned All-Messenger honorable mention as a junior and tallied 2,075 yards and 27 touchdowns during his CHHS career.

“My first goal is to be able to start in college,” Coleman said. “I also want to keep good grades and get my degree in exercise science.”

Dunn earned All-State and All-Messenger honors this season, as he gave up no sacks and earned 52 pancake blocks on the season. He also earned AHSAA North-South All-Star honors. He will play at Kennesaw State.

Benton Dunn

“It was a great program. They’re on the come up moving up to FBS this year and it was just an awesome place for me to go,” Dunn, who will pursue a degree in accounting, said of signing with Kennesaw State. “I just want to get to play football and get a good degree that I can use later in life.”

Dunn’s partners on the offense line, Sharp and Davis, also signed scholarships. Davis will begin his college career at Birmingham Prep.

“They showed me a lot of love on the visit and I love the coaches there,” Davis said. “I was going to make my decision based on how I felt and they showed me a lot of love and a lot of great things there.”
Davis said he wants to pursue a degree in sports management.

Keyontae Davis

“I also want to be able to coach later on in life like (my coaches) and be able to come back and spread love to the youth like they do,” he said.

Sharp signed with Birmingham Southern, where he will pursue a degree in pre-engineering.

“The coaches really made it feel like home there,” Sharp said. “The players already feel like brothers. It felt like a brotherhood there and I’m not even there yet.

Sterling Sharp

“I want to finish my degree in four years, that’s the biggest thing for me. I want to be able to have a well-paying job when I get out (of school).”

Lee will join Sharp at Birmingham Southern, where he will play receiver. He caught 15 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown this season.

“When I went on my visit the whole team was there and (the coaches) had already watched my film before I even got there,” Lee recalled. “They knew who I was, so I really enjoyed that. They showed me a lot of love and I really liked their facilities. The whole (college) was nice. That’s what made me want to go there.”

Lee wants to be a coach in the future, as well.

“I want to coach,” he flatly said. “I want to be able to be a high school or college coach and pass my knowledge down to younger people.”

Dertavious Lee

Adams earned All-State honors as a junior and was All-Messenger in both 2022 and 2023. During his high school career, he finished second all-time in passing at CHHS with 6,496 yards and 67 touchdown passes.

“It’s just a really good program,” Adams said of signing with Faulkner. “I heard a lot of good things about it and I got two opportunities to go up there and play football and baseball. It just felt like the right fit.”

Adams is a star pitcher at CHHS and being able to play both football and baseball was a big part of his decision.

Parker Adams

“It was really the one true thing I wanted,” Adams emphasized. “I wanted to be able to play both football and baseball because I grew up playing both and I love both sports. It was a big part of my decision.”

Like several of his other teammates, Adams plans to coach in the future.

“I want to get my education degree and come out and be a high school or college football coach,” he said.

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