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ANDALUSIA – There is an iconic scene in the movie “Cool Hand Luke” where Paul Newman is in a bare-knuckle boxing match with his rival, and although Newman loses the fist fight, he never quit, getting up off the dirt again and again, earning him the respect of the other prisoners due to his tenacity and unwillingness to surrender.

In many ways, so did Charles Henderson High, on the road at Andalusia Friday night.

CHHS came out strong against the Bulldogs and never quit fighting, but it was Andalusia that pulled away for a 58-28 win over the Trojans in Andalusia’s Municipal Stadium, in a game that was much closer than what the final score may indicate. 

The Trojans may have arguably played their best four quarters of the season as they showed improvement in all phases of the game, especially in their intensity, attitude and effort.

“A lot of odds were against us, but ultimately I was happy the way we fought,” said CHHS Head Coach Quinn Hambrite. “Fighting is half the battle. Execution is the other battle. As I said before, when we learn to play four quarters – and I feel we did this game – then we have to execute with high intensity and do our job. I’m happy the way they fought. We scored a touchdown with two minutes left and down by 30, so I’m happy the way our guys are, and how they fought today. We are a sophomore-led team. We had a lot of sophomores starting, and a few juniors and a few seniors, but I am excited to see the future. But right now, we have to put the pieces together right now so the future will be bright for us later on.”

CHHS was the first to get on the scoreboard when on the second play of the game, sophomore quarterback Parker Adams threw to senior wide receiver Cody Youngblood down the left sideline, Youngblood out-jumped the defender for the catch, shook off the tackler and sprinted 70 yards for a touchdown. The extra point was no good and it was 6-0 CHHS with 11:14 remaining in the first quarter.

According to official Saturday morning coaching statistics, Adams ended the night with over 400 yards passing, one touchdown, passing for one 2-point conversion and running for another.

Andalusia went ahead 8-6 on their first possession when senior running back Michael Hourel scampered in from 3 yards out, and quarterback Ayden Amis passed to Zavier Hamilton for a 2-point conversion.

The Bulldogs went ahead 15-6 later in the quarter when J’Mario Burnette scored from 6 yards away.

The Trojans cut that lead to 15-9 in the final seconds of the quarter on a 33-yard field goal by Nik Peerson, a sophomore kicker.

Amis connected with Lucas Jordan with 9:10 remaining in the first half for a 23-yard touchdown pass play, and the extra point by Cole Morgan put the Bulldogs ahead 22-9.

Omare Latimer threw a 2-yard pass for a score to Burnette and a 30-9 lead which was the halftime score.

Andalusia took a 37-9 lead in the third quarter when Burnette scored on an 8-yard carry, but CHHS cut that to 37-17 when Antonio Frazier, a freshman running back, bulled in from one yard out, and Adams found Jywon Body open for a two-point conversion.

Latimer scored another TD for Andalusia to put them up 44-17 on a 1-yard carry with 11:54 to play in the game, and the Bulldogs went up 51-17 on a 3-yard jaunt by Zade Newton.

Peerson launched a 45-yard field goal for CHHS with 8:14 to play making the score 51-20, and Andalusia scored on another Newton touchdown of 18 yards to go up 58-20.

CHHS never quit, with Coleman fighting his way in down the right sideline for an 18-yard touchdown, and Adams ran to his left for the two-point conversion and the 58-28 final score.

Adams ended the night with 403 yards in passing offense and a touchdown, Jywon Boyd had seven receptions for 127 yards, Cody Youngblood had one catch for 70, while Zack Coleman had eight carries for 30 yards and a TD.

With the win Andalusia improves to 3-2 on the year. Charles Henderson drops to 0-4.

Charles Henderson will be on the road this upcoming Thursday night when they travel to Williamson of Mobile.