Strong defense pushes Hornets past Shades Valley
CHELSEA -- The Chelsea High School football team used a dominant defensive effort on Friday night to defeat Shades Valley 17-6, winning its fourth game in a row and moving closer to a playoff berth.
The Hornets defense forced two turnovers, had five sacks and came up with a stop on a Shades Valley fourth-and-goal opportunity at the Chelsea 1-yard line.
“We’re really proud of our guys,” said head coach Dustin Goodwin. “They showed up and answered the bell.”
Star Mounties running back Jordan Pearson reached 116 yards on 20 carries, but 70 of those yards came on a long drive that ended with the Hornets defense coming up with the fourth-and-goal stop on a Pearson run.
Chelsea running back Emerson Russell got the scoring started with an 11-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter, capping off a 67-yard drive that saw two big passes from quarterback Hayden Garrison.
Following a bad Chelsea punt in the second quarter, Shades Valley found itself with good field position, starting at its own 44-yard line. Pearson took the ball and ran for two consecutive first downs, picked up 5 yards each on the next two plays and then ran another 15 yards to push his team inside the red zone. Picking up 70 yards on 12 carries, Pearson looked like a man on a mission, but the Hornets defense came up with back to back stops from the 2-yard line, forcing a turnover on downs and getting the ball back at their 1-yard line.
“I thought it was huge,” Goodwin said. “To get the goal-line stand was big … and then to answer right there before half with a 99-yard drive was huge.”
On the ensuing Chelsea drive, Garrison quickly moved the ball down the field, completing a 29-yard pass to Russell, and then a 16-yard pass to Cooper Griffin, which followed a 15-yard defensive holding penalty. Following another 20 yard gain on a Garrison to Russell pass, Garrison found Griffin in the middle of the field, and the senior receiver shook off a defender and took it 18 yards to the house to put his team up 14-0 to finish the first half scoring.
Garrison finished 18-of-31 for 193 yards and one touchdown and added 33 yards on the ground. Russell and Griffin added 62 and 61 receiving yards, respectively, leading the team. Russell also led the rushing attack, finishing with 47 yards on 11 carries and one score.
Shades Valley scored its only touchdown of the night on their first drive of the second half. Following a 38-yard return by Tyree Hines, quarterback J’Caius Moore hit Pearson on a pass that the running back took 47 yards to the end zone, though the PAT was missed, keeping it a 14-6 game. Pearson finished with 116 rushing yards and 55 receiving yards with the one score.
Chelsea kicker Luke Miller finished the scoring with a 27-yard field goal late in the third quarter, making it a 17-6 game.
Chelsea’s Cody Fortenberry may have had the play of the night on the next Shades Valley drive. Following a great return by Christian Thomas, Moore dropped back to pass, but his attempt was tipped by Fortenberry, who then dove for the ball and came up with the interception.
Late in the fourth quarter, another interception all but ended the visitor’s hopes as Chelsea’s James Neal picked off Moore, who finished 9-of-18 for 106 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions.
Another fourth down stop on Shades Valley’s next drive allowed Chelsea to finish off the game.
“We definitely still have a lot of things to clean up, but proud of the effort of our guys and happy we got the win,” Goodwin said.
Next up, Chelsea hosts Mountain Brook in a tough home matchup before finishing at Calera. Shades Valley hosts Woodlawn in its homecoming game next week.