By Dan Smith

Charles Henderson High sophomore quarterback Noah Lowery passed for 334 yards and five touchdowns while junior running back Jabronski Williams raced for 118 yards and two TD’s in a 63-20 win over Dale County Friday night in Troy’s Veteran’s-Memorial Stadium.

CHHS bounced back from an uninspired performance and loss a week ago, Friday scoring on their first nine possessions of the game.

Head Coach Brad McCoy was pleased with the number of positive things he saw as they look to put the loss of a week ago behind them.

“It was good in a lot of ways, in a lot of phases of the game, and I think our kids were much better prepared,” McCoy said. “And that’s not from the standpoint of coaching, but our players were better prepared from a mental standpoint of what they brought to the table this week compared to last week.

“A game like this, when you score 63 points, it is easy to find the positives. I told our team that our football season is supposed to be fun. We are supposed to enjoy what we do, not dread it. It can’t be all about negatives, and our guys treated it that way and approached it that way. We get to enjoy it for about 24 hours, and then we have to get ready for a big one next week against Greenville.”

The Trojans got the ball eight times in the first half and scored a touchdown on every possession.

Lowery got the Trojans on the board quickly on the fifth play of the game when he connected with senior wide receiver Nick Lewis for a 50-yard TD strike. Baylor Barnes kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead, capping an 88-yard drive with 10:14 remaining in the first quarter.

CHHS tacked on another touchdown on their next possession which began at the Dale County 25 and ended on a 3-yard TD run by Jabronski Wiliams, and Barnes’ PAT was good for the 14-0 advantage at the 6:40 mark.

Lowery connected with D.Q. Toney for a touchdown of 13 yards with 3:55 remaining in the first quarter, capping a five-play, 59-yard drive, and a 21-0 lead following another Barnes extra point.

The Trojans got the ball back to start the second quarter, with Lowery mastering an 11-play, 75 yard scoring drive to put CHHS up 28-0. Jared Wilson busted a 20-yard run with 8:39 left in the quarter, and Barnes tacked on another PAT.

Lowery connected with Lewis for a 24-yard touchdown pass play with 6:24 remaining in the first half, capping a four-play, 48-yard drive, and Barnes’ kick was good for the 35-0 lead.

Dale County got on the board with 4:12 remaining in the first half when a big kickoff return put the Warriors in business at the CHHS 23, and four plays later quarterback Casey Daughtry found Zachary Vitty in the end zone and the kick by Michael Holt was good for a 35-7 CHHS lead.

CHHS took the ensuing kickoff and scored two players later when Lowery hit Barnes for the score, this time for a 59-yard TD pass play, and the PAT by Barnes made it 42-7.

The Trojans got the ball back less than a minute later, and two plays later Lowery found Barnes open again for a 24-yard touchdown and a 49-7 lead.

With 1:08 remaining in the half Williams exploded for a 71-yard touchdown run and a 56-7 advantage, which the Trojans carried into the locker room at halftime.

Dale County could not move the ball on their first possession of the second half, and the Trojans scored their final touchdown on a 53-yard drive, with Bryson Gandy taking the handoff and running up the middle for a two-yard TD carry, and a 63-7 lead.

Corey Bolling of Dale County recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown to open the fourth quarter and Vitty added a touchdown in the final seconds of the game for the 63-20 final.

Unofficial statistics had Lowery at 16-21 in passing for 334 yards and 5 touchdowns, with Barnes and Lewis catching two each while Toney had one TD reception.

On the ground, Williams had 118 yards rushing and two TD’s, while Wilson rushed for 90 yards and a TD and Gandy had a rushing TD also.

“Very proud of Noah Lowery,” McCoy said. “With him coming in really on short notice, he was going to have to have thick skin and be prepared for some things to not go his way, but I tell you what, I don’t think anything did not go his way tonight. He did an awesome job, had nice touch on his passes, and hit his receivers in stride and ran the offense.

“We’ve got to carry this momentum into Greenville. You think back to last year, we lost that game by three points. Usually every game against Greenville is always close, and that’s what we have got to expect.

“This is our first region game, and last year the game against Greenville ended up being the region championship.”

Kickoff is set for Friday, 7 p.m., in Greenville.