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The Charles Henderson Trojans (4-3, 4-1) hit the road this Friday, Oct. 25, for a pivotal Class 5A, Region 2 showdown with the Eufaula Tigers (4-4, 3-2) with playoff seeding on the line.

Charles Henderson is coming off a resounding 48-14 victory over Headland last week.

“We played well and I think we handled adversity well throughout the game,” CHHS Coach Quinn Hambrite said. “I was proud of the way we responded to certain things in the game. Defensively, we played lights out and offensively, we were able to score and put points on the board. I think we also played well on special teams. I was pleased overall with our game plan.”

Montgomery Catholic (5-0 in region) currently sits at first place in the region with Andalusia (4-1) and Charles Henderson (4-1) tied for second place and Eufaula (3-2) at the No. 4 seed. With a Montgomery Catholic win and a Charles Henderson win, then the Trojans will earn the No. 2 seed and home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Meanwhile, if Montgomery Catholic wins and Eufaula wins, then it would be Charles Henderson, Eufaula and Andalusia in a three-way tie, which then turns to the AHSAA rulebook for a number of potential tiebreakers. An Andalusia win throws a wrench in the seeding that would lead to more tiebreakers.

“I expect Eufaula to come with a lot of toughness and grit, all of us are essentially playing for that second spot in the playoffs,” Hambrite said of Eufaula. “If they win they get a chance to compete for that second spot in the region. So, they’re coming out with everything they have and they had two weeks to prepare for us. So, they’ll be well-prepared and we have to be prepared to execute our game plan.”

Hambrite is preaching to his Trojans that they control their destiny moving forward.

“They have to understand that we control our destiny right now,” he said. “We’re in a really good spot, that if we win we have a good chance at hosting that playoff game. A chance to play at home, that’s the main goal right now. That’s big for us.”

Eufaula lost 35-7 to Andalusia last week after shutting out Greenville 38-0 the week prior. Charles Henderson is 29-47 all-time against Eufaula in a series that dates back all the way to 1922. Charles Henderson is currently on a 2-game win streak against the Tigers, winning last year’s matchup 51-31 and beating Eufaula 34-7 in 2022.

“Discipline, discipline, discipline,” Hambrite answered when asked what he wanted to see from his team this week. “I want to see disciplined football and I want to see us work hard, execute, play fast and play physical. We have to be prepared mentally and prepare with execution in mind. We can’t be out there at practice just to practice, we have to be focused on executing our game plan.

“We have to play hard on special teams, do what we have to do in the classroom, do what we have to do in the weight room and do what we have to do on the football field. If we do that, then good things will happen for us and we’ll be able to host a playoff game.”

Eufaula will host Charles Henderson at 7 p.m. this Friday, Oct. 24, at Tiger Stadium in Eufaula. Tiger Stadium is located at 530 Lake Drive in Eufaula.