HEADLAND, Ala. – For seven long weeks, Charles Henderson head coach Mike Dean has searched for his white whale. He wanted a complete football game from his Trojans and he feels he might have found it Friday night.

Maybe.

Charles Henderson scored 28 points in the second quarter to blow open a close game and cruise to a 56-3 win over the Headland Rams Friday night at J.J. Yarborough Field in Headland.

Dean feels the effort from his players was evident all night in every phase of the game, and said the intensity level the Trojans had was one of the biggest factors of the game.

“We came out a little slow at first, but I did see a while lot more effort for four quarters,” Dean said. “We had some more excitement tonight, and that is something we have been searching for. I am very pleased with our performance tonight. We played very well in all three phases, offense, defense and special teams.”

Headland forced a punt on the Trojans first possession of the game, and quickly tacked on the first points of the game with a 37-yard field goal.

Following that kick, Charles Henderson took control of the ball game and never looked back, Mondarius Dixon capped off an 11-play, 66-yard drive with a 4-yard plunge with 1:50 to go in the first quarter.

The Trojans scored four times in the second quarter, including a 56-yard pitch and catch from quarterback Austin Ingram to Dixon. Receiver John Johnson returned a Headland punt 48 yards to the house with 6:40 in the second.

Johnson broke one tackle at the 40, and then raced down the sideline untouched the rest of the way for the score.

“A special teams TD is way different that offense,” Johnson said. “On offense, they are running at you, and on special teams it is the opposite. I was able to get some good blocks, and find the sideline. My eyes got big when I saw the seam open. It was up to me to finish the job.”

Dixon made his presence felt once more in the half, taking a handoff 69 yards for his third score of the half.

Dean praised the efforts of Dixon, Johnson and reserve running back Christian Passmore for not going down at first contact.

“They don’t go down with arm tackles,” Dean said. “That is a testament to the Coach (Adam) Helms and the weight room. We don’t back our weights off during the season. We want to be the strongest team on the field. The weights, the peanut-butter sandwiches, the conditioning all have a purpose. We will keep that going.”

Dixon finished with 177 yards and two touchdowns, in addition to his one 56 yard receiving TD.

Charles Henderson out gained Headland 404 yards to just 57. The Rams longest play of the night was a 30-yard rush on a fake punt in the third quarter.

With the win, the Trojans take one step closer to the “ultimate goal” of winning a state championship.

“Our motto every day is ‘Win today’,” Dean said. “We have to take care of business every week. A win next week gives us at least a tie for the region championship, but that’s not our goal. God gives us a new day every morning. It is our goal to honor him by getting better every day, and if we do that, the wins will come.”

Charles Henderson returns home next week to host Ashford at Veterans Memorial Stadium.