When Charles Henderson travels to face Thomasville High School in the first round of the Alabama High School Athletic Association playoffs, they will be taking on a tough opponent. Not just in the past 10 games, but the past 10 years.

Since head coach Jack Hankins took over the program in 2003, the Tigers have reached an elite level on the football field. In fact, Thomasville’s 31-21 win last week was the program’s 600th, placing them seventh for all-time victories among AHSAA schools. The team is 114-26 under Hankins and 66-11 in the postseason.

Thomasville (8-2) comes into the game having played a healthy schedule. The Tigers non-region games included Sweetwater, Demopolis and Jackson, who have combined records of 25-5. Demopolis was the only one of the three to walk away victorious, that verdict came in Week 5, 27-26. The Tigers other loss came in Week 3 to Class 4A Region 1 winners UMS Wright, 49-42, meaning the team’s two losses came by a combined eight points.

One chink in the Tigers armor is that both of the losses have come at home. Thomasville is 4-0 on the road this season. Conversely, Charles Henderson enters the contest 4-1 away from Veterans Memorial Stadium and has a proven track record against run-first offenses. Alabama Christian, St. James and Ashford all run systems similar to that of Thomasville. The Trojans held those teams to a combined 20 points. Thomasville, however, runs the triple-option with extreme efficiency, averaging 42 points per game. The Trojans spread attack posts over 33 points per contest, but has been held to fewer that 17 four times this season.

The Trojans have also had trouble versus ranked teams. Charles Henderson fell to Beauregard, Tallassee and Eufaula, who were all ranked at the time, Thomasville comes into the first round ranked sixth.

Thomasville comes in as the second-seed in Region 1. Charles Henderson finished as the No. 3 seed.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.