Pelham comes back to beat Hornets
PELHAM -- Coach Tom Causey’s Pelham High School football team could have hardly had a worse start to its game Friday night.
The Panthers threw an interception on the first play of the game and found themselves down 15 points early in the second quarter.
But Causey’s bunch didn’t stay down, charging back for a 47-28 victory over the Chelsea High School football team on Bobby Hayes Field.
“I’m proud of our team,” said Causey, whose team improved to 5-1. “We dug ourselves into a hole. The offense put us in a bad way and they bailed us out right there too.”
Chelsea was up 14-0 in the first quarter before the home team got on the board with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Will Lankford to Chase Christian. The Hornets would put 28 points on the board by intermission, but the Panthers closed the half with a 3-yard Lankford touchdown run to narrow the margin to 28-27.
The Panthers pulled away from there, holding the visitors scoreless the rest of the way. Causey said the difference was up front.
“Dominate the line of scrimmage. Dominate the line of scrimmage,” Causey said. “Chelsea, in the first quarter especially, dominated the line of scrimmage.”
Chelsea coach Dustin Goodwin said his team fell victim to Pelham adjustments, and some of their players playing on both sides of the ball.
“The fatigue factor set in a little bit,” Goodwin said. “We had some guys cramping. At the end of the day, it came down to execution. They executed better than we did and that’s how they won the ball game.
“Nothing really changed from the first half to the second half other than nicks and bruises and bumps,” the Hornets coach continued. “A guy comes up lame so another guy has to pull double duty. I think that wore on us as the game went on.”
Lankford had 16 carries for 155 yards and two touchdowns for the Panthers. He was 2-for-6 passing for 84 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Dylan Peterson had 14 carries for 155 yards and two TDs.
Gabe Gamble had 39 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Fabian Calderon, Seth Branham and Zack Rushton had six tackles apiece while Jamal Miles had three tackles and an interception.
Chelsea sophomore quarterback Hayden Garrison completed 7-of-14 passes for 117 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
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