OPELIKA —- Charles Henderson played three quarters of dominant football Friday night against Beauregard. Fortunately for the Trojans, those three quarters were enough to pick up a 27-12 win to start the 2010 season.

CHHS led 14-0 at the half, but saw the Hornets score 12 straight to narrow the lead to 14-12 heading into the fourth.

The Trojans forced Beauregard to punt on its first possession of the fourth, and then mounted a 16-play, 70-yard drive that ate up 7:34.

However, the Trojans did not score on the drive, as Cory Dennis hit Laquavious Bryant with a pass on fourth and 10. Bryant fell at the 1-yard line, and rolled into the end zone, but the ball was spotted at the 1 and given to the Hornets.

BJS didn’t keep the ball long, however, as Anthony Siler picked off a David Winslett pass on the first play and fell into the endzone for a touchdown, sealing the win for CHHS.

CHHS head coach Hugh Fountain said he was proud of the way his team responded to the tough third quarter.

“I wasn’t nervous, I was excited because it was on opportunity for this team to face adversity, and I think we responded well to that adversity,” Fountain said.

“We played a few people both ways at the end that hadn’t played both ways before, and they toughened up and did what they had to to win.”

Fountain also said the offensive and defensive lines were key late in the game, especially on the 70-yard drive.

“I’m really proud of the way we played up front in the fourth quarter,” Fountain said.

“We bowed up when we had to, ad part of that was not getting down when some calls didn’t go our way in the third quarter. I just told them not to worry about winning because of calls and to worry about winning by being the better football team.”

CHHS jumped out to an early lead thanks in large part to the play of Quintus Moss.

Moss had an interception in the first quarter, and then scored on a 71-yard touchdown run on the ensuing possession to put CHHS up 7-0.

Moss struck again in the second, scoring on a 17-yard run to make it 14-0.

BHS appeared ready to cut into the lead before the half, as it drove to the Trojan 5-yard line late in the second quarter.

The Hornets fumbled, however, giving CHHS the ball with 1:32 left to go in the half and enabling the Trojans to go into the locker room up 14.

The Hornets then struck in the third, scoring on a 16-yard pass from Winslett to Shequaille Finley to cut the lead to 14-6.

BHS then scored again five minutes later when Winslett scored on a quarterback sneak from two yards out.

Winslett’s two point conversion pass attempt was unsuccessful, leaving the score at 14-12 to set the stage for the final quarter’s dramatic events.

After CHHS went up 21-12, Moss had one final big play in him, as he picked off a Winslett desperation pass and took it 60 yards for the game’s final score as time expired.

Moss finished with three total touchdowns, 132 yards rushing and two interceptions.

“He conditions hard and he works hard,” Fountain said.

“He’s one of our better players, so we expect big things from him. We rely on him for a lot, and he has been able to do everything we rely on him for.”

Dennis finished 10-18 for 93 yards, with seven of those 10 completions going to Bryant, who had 90 yards receiving.

As a team, CHHS outgained BHS 286-247.

The key statistic was the turnover margin, as CHHS committed zero turnovers to Beauregard’s five.

While Fountain was happy with the win, he said the Trojans must continue to improve in order to have a successful season.

“It’s tough to win here. We had lost the last few times we faced them, so we had to fight to get this win. We had control of the game, then we lost it, and then we got it back, so it was a good start to our season,” Fountain said. “But, it was just one game and we have to get better for the other games if we want to win.”