The Charles Henderson Middle School football team will hit the field to kick off their 2015 schedule next Tuesday night on the road against Coppinville in Enterprise.

“The team is looking really good right now. We have a whole bunch of guys on the team that didn’t get to play last year,” said Trojan head coach Will Garner. “They will be in starter roles this year. “

Although the Trojans hope to have a good year in 2015, Garner hopes the football program as a whole will take a major step forward.

“We want to start building a football program starting with the middle school and building all the way up through varsity,” Garner said. “Hopefully we will win some ballgames this year. The way the guys are practicing right now, and if they keep doing what they are supposed to, I can see some wins.”

Garner and his coaching staff will teach the players this year in hopes that they take that knowledge with them to the next level.

In 2015 the Trojans will enter the Wiregrass League where they will play teams from Dothan, Enterprise and Ozark.

After opening up against Coppinville, rest of the Trojans schedule is: Girard, Carver, at Honeysuckle, at Beverly, Dauphin and at D.A. Smith.

“We play some really good teams,” Garner said. “All the teams we play will feed into Dothan High School and Enterprise High School which are both 7A schools. Both those schools’ middle school programs will be good competition.”

Last Friday the varsity team hosted meet the Trojans night at Veterans Memorial Stadium, giving the fans the opportunity to get a preview of the 2015 season. The varsity wasn’t the only team putting on a show Friday night.

The middle school always participated in the scrimmage and the young players soaked in every moment.

“It was unbelievable for our guys to get the chance to finally play under the lights and the chance to play at Troy University,” Garner said. “Our guys were on cloud nine to show up and play in that game. Our guys were able to be paired with the varsity guys, and that made a world of a difference.”

The Friday night scrimmage was an effort to build a program that starts at the middle school level, something that varsity head coach Brad McCoy has been shooting for from the time he stepped on campus.

“Working beside Coach McCoy has been great,” Garner said. “We are trying to do the same things that they do on varsity.”

The Trojans will rely on athleticism to get them through a tuff schedule in 2015. Quarterback Pooka Jones will not only play quarterback for the first time but will be playing football for the first time as well.

“We have a quarterback who is playing football for the first time,” Garner said. “He throws the ball extremely well for an eighth-grader. We are going to rely on his arm a good bit and also his speed. We have guys on the edge that allow him to use his arm because we have guys that can go up and get the ball.”