Hornets fall short despite 2nd half surge
HELENA -- Chelsea High School’s Evan Jones responded to Helena's 20-0 first-half lead by intercepting a Mac Turner pass for a 15-yard pick-six to open the second half. The play helped spark the Hornets, who pulled within six points in the fourth, but Helena held on for a 27-14 victory at Mark Hall Athletic Complex on Friday night.
"We cleaned some things up at halftime, liability wise. I thought our defense played inspired in the second half. We got the big pick-six coming out of halftime that energized the guys. I thought the guys handled themselves better in the second half this week as opposed to the second half last week. We definitely showed some improvement and some maturity and growth, but we still have a ways to go," said Chelsea head coach Dustin Goodwin.
Turner picked apart the Chelsea secondary on Helena's first two drives, completing 7-of-7 passes for 58 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Kaysn Bustamento and JC Sivley. The Hornets held Helena to field goals on the next two drives to make it 20-0. Aiden Naron kicked a 22-yard field goal, followed by Matthew Blocker's 38-yarder that was set up by JT Alvis' interception of Chelsea's Hayden Garrison with 1:12 left in the first half.
Following Jones' defensive score to open the third quarter, Chelsea stopped the Huskies deep in their own territory and took over on the Hornets' 44 after a punt. Matt Gray broke free on a 56-yard dash to the end zone to open the next series, but the play was called back for holding. It was the first of a potential 14 points taken off the board due to penalties.
After punting inside the Helena 10 and flipping the field to start its next series on the Huskies' 31, Chelsea put together an 11-play scoring drive to make it 20-14 on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Cooper Griffin to MJ Conrad. Eighth grader Luke Miller was 3-for-3 on point after kicks in the game.
Helena answered with a 10-yard Turner to Sivley touchdown pass, eating up nearly six minutes of clock time and stretching its lead, 27-14. Turner finished the night with 205 yards, three touchdowns and one interception on 19-of-29 passing. Sivley was the leading receiver with 132 yards on 11 receptions and two scores.
With 3:29 to play, Garrison hit Griffin for a 35-yard catch in the end zone, but the play was waved off for pass interference. Hunter Hale intercepted the next pass, giving the ball back to Helena. The Huskies punted to Chelsea with 55 seconds left but recovered a muffed return to run out the clock.
"We want to try to put our guys in a situation to make plays and when they seemingly do make plays and it gets taken off that's tough. That's the way it goes sometimes. We've got to let that stuff roll off, and we've got to get better," Goodwin said.
Garrison finished the night 3-of-14 passing for 37 yards, while Gray’s 52 yards rushing led the Hornets’ offense.Chelsea (0-2) will open Class 6A, Region 5 action next Friday at Briarwood.