Stout defense, late score lift Hornets to win
CHELSEA -- Three forced turnovers and a goal-line stand helped lead the Chelsea High School football team to its first win of the season on Friday night, defeating Helena 27-23 in the 2020 home opener.
Fresh off a 43-0 win over Dallas County the previous week, Helena's Kaysn Bustamento returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. It would be the most yards the Huskies gained in the first half.
"Our defense played great all night, and across the board our kids fought really, really hard all night. We're extremely proud of them," said Chelsea head coach Dustin Goodwin. "Anyone who watched the game knows we have a ton of things to improve upon, but the resolve and fight these guys have and the willingness to keep going says a lot about their character."
Two plays into Helena's first offensive possession, Chelsea's Marquis Turner recovered a fumble at the Huskies' 32. Collier Blair capped the drive less than two minutes later to make it 7-6 after a missed extra point.
It became 13-7 when Adam Reaves punched in a 10-yard touchdown run with 5:54 remaining in the second quarter. Earlier in the quarter, Reaves had a 61-yard touchdown catch called back on a holding penalty.
The Hornets capitalized on Helena's miscues late in the first half. A pass interference gave Chelsea new life, but two unsportsmanlike calls on the same play turned it into a 40-yard gain, setting up a 33-yard touchdown pass from Nic Neaves to Reaves. Chelsea carried a 20-7 lead into halftime.
After holding Helena to less than 50 yards in the first half, the second half became a fight, leading to an intense fourth quarter.
Midway through the third quarter, Helena's Kolby Harris returned a punt 54 yards for a touchdown to cut Chelsea’s lead to 20-14.
Down six to start the fourth, Helena built a 77-yard drive, capped by a 30-yard connection from Mac Turner to JC Sivley to the Chelsea 1-yard-line. The Hornets' defense stuffed two handoffs up the middle and then shut down Sivley on back-to-back passes to the right side to regain possession.
Pinned deep, the Hornets were caught in the end zone for a safety, making the score 20-16.
"We thought we flipped the field, and they did an excellent job of responding and got us backed up down in our end of the field and our defense bowed their back and made something happen. That's good to see when you have a young football team. We had some elder statesmen step up and make some big plays," Goodwin said.
While Chelsea thought it had flipped the field, Hunter Hale returned the free kick to the Helena 45, then Turner hit Bustamento for a 55-yard touchdown, giving Helena a 23-20 lead with 5:51 to play.
Chelsea responded with a 13-play, five-minute drive. With two men on his back, Holton Smith hauled in a first-down catch on third-and-8. It was the first of four first downs on the winning drive.
Collier Blair collected most of the yards, including the final 8 for the winning touchdown with 46 seconds to play.
"Collier put the team on his back, along with the guys up front, and sealed the deal for us. You still had to hold your breath for 30 seconds though, because they have height on the outside and a guy who can get it there," Goodwin said.
Turner went to the air four times, the last intercepted by Jake Adams with 14 seconds to play to secure the victory.
Blair, who rushed for 123 yards in the second half, finished the game with 158 yards on 38 carries. Neaves was 10-of-20 for 77 passing yards. Reaves collected 87 yards, including 52 on five catches and 34 on seven carries.
Turner led Helena with 170 yards on 11-of-24 passing, 75 yards on four passes to Sivley and 77 to Bustamento, who had four catches. The Huskies were held to 38 yards on the ground.
Chelsea (1-1) is scheduled to host Briarwood next Friday.
Click here to view and purchase photos from the game.