Charles Henderson is looking to not only pick up its first region win of the season, but do it according to their gameplan. Head coach Mike Dean made it clear earlier in the week that he wants to run the football more efficiently that in the previous three games.

“It’s about winning first down,” he said. “We’ve got to establish the run to put ourselves in good position on second and third downs.”

Senior running back Courtney Downing has just 189 yards and one touchdown through the team’s first three games.

The Trojans (1-2, 0-2 Region) have been relying mostly on the arm of sophomore quarterback Austin Ingram, who has thrown for an average of 243 yards per game. Ingram has six touchdowns through the air compared to just two interceptions.

Charles Henderson was gashed on the ground in last week’s loss to Tallassee. The Tigers moved the ball on the ground 47 yards in the final 57 seconds of play to set up a 45-yard field to win as time expired.

“It should have never go to that point,” Dean said. “We didn’t do our job, which allowed them to get into the position to win the game. We’ve got to do a better job of knowing our assignments doing what we are supposed to do.”

The Trojans now take on an Alabama Christian (1-2, 1-1 Region) team who has already earned a region victory and is looking to rise in the standings. The Eagles still have tough games against Beauregard and Tallassee remaining, so a win here would be huge.

Charles Henderson and Alabama Christian have never met on the football field, but there is a connection.

Charles Henderson offensive coordinator Gregg Baker served as the Eagles head coach for two seasons (2006-07).

Baker guided the school to a 4-16 mark in the program’s first two seasons in Class 4A.