Hornets capture 1st win
CHELSEA -- The Chelsea High School football team won its first game of the season on Friday night, outlasting Pelham 31-28 at home to end its four-game losing streak.
“The ever-elusive first [win] is hard to get it seems,” said Chelsea head coach Dustin Goodwin. “I’m really proud of our kids. This is all about them. I’m really excited for them and proud of their effort tonight.”
The Hornets (1-5) opened the game with scores on their first two possessions, getting on the scoreboard first on a 36-yard field goal by junior kicker Jack Seymour. Chelsea then followed it up with an eight-play, 71-yard touchdown drive capped by a 7-yard touchdown reception by junior EJ Hudnall to make it 10-0.
Pelham was not willing to lie down early, however, and quickly answered the Hornets touchdown with one of their own. In less than two minutes, the Panthers drove 65 yards on just four plays, capping the possession with a 26-yard touchdown run by senior running back Gabriel Gamble Jr. with 2:45 left in the first quarter.
Up 10-7, Chelsea’s offense continued to hum along at the start of the second period of play. The Hornets scored their second touchdown of the night on their next possession with sophomore running back Emerson Russell taking it in from 10 yards out to make it 17-7.
But the Panthers would still not go away. Pelham responded again near the end of the half and seemed to grab some momentum before the break. The visitors dodged a 49-yard field goal attempt by the Hornets and then recovered a muffed punt and capitalized with a touchdown by Darius Copeland to cut Chelsea’s lead to three points at halftime.
The momentum did carry over for Pelham to start the third quarter. After an unsuccessful onside kick attempt by Chelsea, the Panthers started in good field position and took advantage, driving 53 yards and taking the lead, 21-17, for the first time on a 19-yard touchdown pass from William Lankford to Copeland.
Facing a deficit for the first time in the game, Goodwin says his team responded and handled it the way he wanted them to.
“I don’t think anyone lost their head, everyone kept doing their job,” he said.
Goodwin was right. On the ensuing possession, the Hornets went 68 yards on 11 plays, scoring on a 10-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Hayden Garrison to senior Cooper Griffin to make it 24-21 with 3:19 left in the third quarter. The Hornets forced a punt and a turnover on downs on Pelham’s next two offensive drives, and then added to their lead again with 7:15 to go in the game when Garrison, who finished with 189 yards passing and three total touchdowns, snuck the ball over the goal line from the 1-yard line to make it 31-21.
“I’m extremely proud of our kids for continuing to fight, not letting the moment be too big, and finding a way to get it done,” Goodwin said. “I like for them to continue to execute whether things are going well or not, and I think tonight we matured in that aspect. We were able to do some things and stop some of that momentum that we haven’t been able to in prior weeks.”
Pelham would add another touchdown with 3:55 remaining, but after recovering the onside kick the Hornets were able to all but ice the game with a nine-play drive that gave the Panthers just one play from inside their 10-yard line.
With the first win of the season in the books, Goodwin hopes it will give his team a boost heading into the remainder of the season.
“Pelham being such a good football team, I would expect our kids’ confidence level to be high,” he said. “We feel like we’ve been really close and let a couple slip away from us late. We’ve still got the second half of our season where we do have a chance to make the playoffs, and we just have to enjoy this one but get back to work on Monday.”
Chelsea travels to Woodlawn for its next game, a Region 5 contest next Friday.