Hornets roll past defending region champ
CHELSEA -- The Chelsea High School football team (3-1, 2-0) routed Class 6A, Region 5 opponent Jackson-Olin (1-3, 0-2) 42-7 at home on Friday night, giving the Hornets their third straight win since a season-opening loss to Oak Mountain.
The Hornets controlled both sides of the ball, putting up 337 yards and holding the Mustangs to just 67 total yards of offense.
On the night, Chelsea forced six punts, an interception and three turnovers on down. The Hornets defense did not allow a first down until midway through the second quarter.
“(The defense) continued to play well and they’ve played well all year on that side of the ball,” said Chelsea head coach Dustin Goodwin, who in his second season now has more wins in four games this year than all of last season. “We feel pretty good about the guys (on defense), and as long as they’re giving effort and not blowing assignments they’re pretty good at what we do.”
The Chelsea offense was also pretty good at what they did against Jackson-Olin. The Hornets scored a season-high 42 points with all six touchdowns coming on the ground.
Junior Adam Reaves got the scoring started late in the first quarter when he took a direct snap 9 yards into the end zone. A botched punt attempt by Jackson-Olin gave Chelsea prime field position at the Mustangs 9-yard line, and the Hornets wasted no time in putting it away with Reaves scoring on the first snap.
“(Reaves) is a good athlete and we trust him with the ball in his hands,” Goodwin said. “He did a good job and the guys up front did a good job making a way for him and he was able to get it where it needed to go to get into the end zone.”
Junior running back Collier Blair also played a major role in the Chelsea offense Friday night, taking most of the carries for the Hornets. Blair gave his team a 14-0 lead right before the end of the first quarter on a 24-yard touchdown run.
“Collier is a good back,” Goodwin said, “This year he’s finally healthy – he played most of the year banged up last year – so that’s the difference. It goes back to the guys up front. We’ve gotten better and we’re not blowing nearly as many assignments as we have and that creates those running lanes.”
After a mostly punt-filled second quarter, Chelsea’s Reaves scored again right before halftime to send the Hornets into the break with a 21-0 lead. Reaves would finish the game with three rushes for 28 yards and two receptions for five yards.
Receiving the ball to start the second half, Chelsea wasted no time finding the end zone again. On the third play from scrimmage, Blair scored his second touchdown of the game, running it in from 53 yards to increase the lead to 28 points. Blair finished the game with 17 rushes for 105 yards.
Jackson-Olin responded to the score on its ensuing possession, taking advantage of two Chelsea penalties to score on a 19-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Malek Lowe to sophomore Kason Jones.
The Hornets took up most of the possession and scored twice in their final three drives to secure the 42-7 victory. Senior Michael Gibbs scored Chelsea’s fifth touchdown on a 3-yard rush, and senior Kijani King capped the scoring with an 8-yard touchdown run with 1:30 left to play.
Although they didn’t score through the air, Chelsea had a nice night passing, as well. The Hornets managed 147 passing yards with senior quarterback Caleb Moore completing 12-of-18 passes for 142 yards.
The win marks a good start in the region for Chelsea, which is 2-0 in Region 5 after back-to-back wins over Carver-Birmingham and Jackson-Olin.
“You’re extremely happy and proud any time you can get a win,” Goodwin said. “Obviously the region games are the important ones because our main goal is to make the playoffs, and we’re sort of in a position to where we can control our own destiny and we’re grateful for that.”
Chelsea will look to remain undefeated in the region when it goes to Pelham next Friday.
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