It may only be the second week of the regular season, but for Charles Henderson, the fight for playoff positioning begins this week on the road against Tallassee.

“The team that wins this game Friday night is going to be in a better position for sure,” said head coach Hugh Fountain. “Last year, our victory over Tallassee gave us a home playoff game. If we had lost to Tallassee, we would have been a third-place team in the region. Obviously, this is going to have some implications somewhere down the line.”

The Trojans did defeat Tallassee 25-7 in 2008, but Fountain said this year’s Tiger team comes into the game against Charles Henderson desperate for a win.

“They’re a team that’s very hungry,” Fountain said. “They went to the playoffs last year. They’re a team that’s only been in 5A for a few years. We know they’re going to be aiming for us simply because they’ve never beaten us since they moved to 5A.”

A win over Tallassee would not only give Charles Henderson an advantage when it comes time for postseason seeding, but it would also be a confidence booster for a team that started its regular season with a 28-7 loss to Greenville.

Fountain said a win over the Tigers could go a long way towards establishing Charles Henderson as a serious contender in the region this season.

“This is going to be a big game for them, but it’s also a big game for us because we know that they’re going to be one of the top teams in the region,” Fountain said. “If we want to be one of the top teams in the region, we’ve got to be able to come out and win this ball game Friday night.”

Tallassee has expectations of being one of the top teams in the region thanks largely in part to many returning players in the linebacking corps and at several other skill positions.

“They’re very scary. They’ve got a lot of good skill people,” Fountain said. “Their quarterback and both of their running backs are very good. They’ve got a lot of returning players from last year, so we know that’s going to be tough on us. Their linebackers all started as sophomore last year and they come back as juniors, so we know that they all know how to play and that they’re good ball players.”

One thing Fountain said could help the Trojans this week is improved health.

The team has had a slew of ankle injuries throughout the preseason, and has also had a flu bug affect several players on the team.

“We really haven’t been very healthy,” Fountain said. “I think that hurt us last week. We’re hoping to be healthier this week. We need all our players to be able to play as we get region play kicked off.”

A lack of health was just one of many issues for the Trojans in last week’s 28-7 loss at Greenville.