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The Charles Henderson Trojans will cap off spring practices this Thursday, May 9, with a spring football game against Class 7A’s JAG Jaguars from Montgomery.

The Trojans have been battling the heat and breaking in some young players at new spots this spring.

“Spring is going good,” CHHS Coach Quinn Hambrite said. “I’m proud of the progress we’ve seen over the last three weeks.”

CHHS is coming off another playoff run this past season but at least one position will look completely different after the graduation of longtime starting quarterback Parker Adams. Hambrite has liked what he’s seen from quarterbacks Kellen Stewart and Blake Lowery as they compete to replace Adams.

“I’ve seen great quarterback play from those guys (this spring). They’re not shocking me but I think they’ll shock a lot of people this year,” Hambrite emphasized. “Blake is accurate like he’s supposed to be and Kellen is a young cat pushing for Blake’s spot. I think that has made Blake even better.

“When you have a young guy that’s really good behind a senior that’s been here for three years in this system it breeds competition. The quarterback room is looking great right now and I’m extremely proud of their progress.”

This is the third consecutive year Charles Henderson has faced off against a 7A team in the spring game and Hambrite said they know what to expect.

“They’re a 7A school, so they’ll be big and fast on the edges,” Hambrite said. “The running back can run the ball and they’re big on the line up front on both offense and defense. We expect it to be a physical game and for them to come out and try and ground and pound us and lull us asleep for the deep ball.

“We expect those hogs in the middle to try and stop the run, too. We have to do our jobs and our assignments in order to be successful in this game.”

As much as CHHS wants to win the spring game, the Trojan coaches are more worried about seeing their team compete and continue to progress.

“I want to see us compete, compete, compete,” Hambrite said emphatically. “Win, lose or draw we have to compete. I always say that we either win or we win – I’m a winner and these kids are winners – but that’s not the point of the spring.

“The point of the spring is to progress and see who we can depend on early on (this season) and who you can’t yet. Those guys that you figure will be good may not be ready yet and those guys that are ready may shock you. I want to see us compete, have fun and come out of this game injury free and come out with a better sense of who we will be this season.”

Charles Henderson hosts JAG in the spring football game at 7 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Charles Henderson Middle School team will play Floyd Magnet Middle School ahead of that game, at 4 p.m.