Sports Editor

On Friday evening Pike County and Charles Henderson High School will meet in Brundidge to find just who has the better team.

The Trojans are out to avenge last season’s 14-12 loss at home to the Bulldogs. Pike County wants to open their 2000 campaign with a second straight victory over their arch-rivals.

The Bulldogs are coming off of a 6-4 year and a victory over the Trojans could be all the momentum the ‘Dogs need when Class 5A No. 4 ranked Eufaula rolls into town on Sep. 1.

Charles Henderson is simply looking for redemption.

1999 was a season of highs and lows for the Trojans and they finished with a 4-6 record.

"Last year our players showed a remarkable ability to bounce back," said CHHS head coach Hugh Fountain. "1999 was just a funny year for us. We lost some games that we shouldn’t have and then we won some that we had no business winning."

Both Fountain and Pike County head coach Wayne Grant want to reiterate to football fans throughout the area that although this will officially go down as a Jamboree-the game will be played like a regular season contest. To most people, a Jamboree game usually has the feel of a controlled scrimmage. That will not be the case with Pike County vs. Charles Henderson 2000.

"We are going to have the kicking game in place and go four 12 minute quarters," said Grant. "There’s going to be a lot of hitting going on."

Fountain agreed.

"We want people to realize that this will be the only way they will be able to see Charles Henderson and Pike County play for the next two years," he said. "We want the fans to know that this will be a game."

The Alabama High School Athletic Association’s decision to go with a new regional format in 2000 disrupted the schedules of both Pike County and Charles Henderson. Regional play features seven team regions, instead of the three or four team area alignments that riddled the state of Alabama last year.

"We are looking forward to regions," said Fountain. "We are facing five opponents this year that we have never faced before."

Grant saw his team drop down from a 4A classification to Class 3A in 2000. Grant said he feels his team will be better because of that drop.

"I think we’ll be a better 3A team then a 4A team," he said. "I’d rather be a big 3A then a little 4A. About the only time in the past when we played schools our size were when we played area games. Most of the rest of the teams on our schedule have been big schools like Dothan, Enterprise, and Greenville."