Charles Henderson falls to Daleville Warhawks
Published 3:00 am Saturday, August 29, 2015
DALEVILLE, AL – Charles Henderson High head football coach Brad McCoy knew before his team got off the bus Friday that his former team, the Daleville Warhawks, had this date circled on their calendar.
Playing with a heavy senior class, making big plays and taking advantage of numerous CHHS penalties, Daleville defeated the Trojans of Charles Henderson 27-9 in the season opener for both teams at Warhawks Stadium.
Coach McCoy challenged his team after the game to find out who wants to play with effort, positive attitude and discipline, and find out in a hurry before Dale County comes to Troy this upcoming Friday night.McCoy was familiar with the talented Daleville Warhawks, as he was the head coach at Daleville from 2009-2013, but he was expecting his squad to play with more discipline, and he know his team must eliminate the mistakes that plagued them Friday night.
“We knew going into this game they had a lot of seniors, and another year into running this offense,” McCoy said following the game. “The thing about a team like that, they run the option and they run it well. They did a lot of things we did not see on video, and that’s a great job for Coach (Josh) Parrish and their staff. We did not line up, we did not adjust well, and we did not tackle very well.
“All of those problems were very evident, and we also have problems on offense. And in saying that, it was just a hard, difficult night. And we have some discipline issues. We have some kids, that we are going to have to go back and figure out which kids are on board with us, and which kids are not on board with us. We’ve got to figure that out real quick.”
Daleville took a 6-0 lead on their second possession of the first quarter when senior running back Alex McNeal scored from two-yards out, capping a 47-yard drive. The extra point was no good.
The Trojans got on the board in the final seconds of the first quarter when senior linebacker Omari Vaughans sacked Daleville quarterback Coley Locke in the end zone for a safety, cutting the lead to 6-2 with 52-seconds remaining in the first quarter.
The Warhawks went up 13-2 with a minute remaining in the first half when Locke broke a 41-yard touchdown run and the extra point was good.
McNeal scored his second touchdown when he raced 78 yards on the third play of the second half, and also scored the two-point conversion for the 21-2 Daleville lead.
Jared Wilson of CHHS scored from 20-yards out with 1:12 left in the third quarter, and Baylor Barnes added the PAT to cut the lead to 21-9.
Daleville took over at their own 20, and Locke erased any hopes of a Trojan comeback when he broke an 80-yard run for the 27-9 advantage, which would hold up to be the final score.
CHHS will host Dale County this Friday night in Troy’s Veteran’s Memorial Stadium, and Coach McCoy knows his team must respond quickly this next week to be prepared to win.
“We’re going to focus on us, and our team,” said McCoy. “The thing that is going to stand out most is how we respond. It’s going to start with us as coaches, and we are going to put it on them to respond. Maybe we’ll respond and wake up and start doing the right things, but until we do, bad things are going to happen.”