Hornets fall to Thompson
CHELSEA -- Thompson High School scored 27 third-quarter points on Friday night in its rout of Chelsea. The Warriors won 48-3 as they extended their winning streak in Class 7A to seven games.
Thompson’s A.J. Green took the spotlight as he scored four times.
“I thought we played really well in the first half,” said Chelsea head coach Todd Cassity. “Didn’t like the way we came out in the second half.”
Chelsea (1-3, 1-2 in Class 7A, Region 3) was methodical on its opening drive as the Hornets drove down the field in 14 plays and used over seven minutes of the game clock. Brady Clements' run on a fake punt on fourth down led to a third-and-11 pass from Carter Dotson to Jaxon Shuttlesworth to keep the drive alive.
The Hornets’ momentum rolled into the next play, as Emerson Russell scampered for 11 yards. Chelsea stalled on its next set of downs to set up a 37-yard field goal attempt by Jack Seymour that the senior drilled straight down the middle. The home side held an early 3-0 lead.
Thompson (3-2, 3-0) responded to take the lead two plays later. Green ran for 17 yards on his first touch and followed with a 63-yard touchdown run up the gut. The junior back ran untouched to take a 7-3 lead with 3:56 showing in the opening frame.
The Hornets next drive went past midfield but a third-and-5 screen attempt was intercepted by Caleb Ballard.
The Warriors pieced together a 10-play drive off the turnover that was capped off by Green again. The 5-yard score extended the lead to 14-3 with 7:02 showing in the second quarter.
Thompson was driving again in the final four minutes of the half. Zach Sims threw a pass sailed high and into the waiting arms of Chris McNeill. It would be Sims' last play of the game.
Chelsea followed with a three-and-out and punted back to Thompson, which then had 32 seconds to work with. This brought eighth-grader Trent Seaborn onto the field to take over at quarterback. Seaborn threw a short swing pass to Green, who bolted down the left hash from 42 yards out to score. The Warriors took a 21-7 lead into the break.
Thompson’s third quarter onslaught began swiftly, as Green found the end zone for the fourth time. His 10-yard score would be his final touch of the evening, as he finished with 168 total yards on 10 touches.
The Warriors next score came on a superb run from Michael Dujon. The sophomore back pinballed off a pair of defenders near the line of scrimmage and then stormed down the middle to push the lead to 35-3.
Seaborn led one last scoring drive of his own as he threw a perfect pass over the shoulder of Korbyn Williams along the sidelines from 17 yards out. Thompson held a 42-3 advantage with 1:54 remaining in the third quarter.
Chelsea fumbled the next possession and led to Omari Thomas scoring the final touchdown of the third quarter and game. The senior broke two tackles on the right before cutting back through the middle and scoring from 15 yards away to make it a 48-3 score.
Thompson finished with a 401-181 advantage in total yards, fueled by 247 rushing yards.
Seaborn was a perfect 4-for-4 for 122 yards and the pair of touchdowns. The Warriors scored on every possession he was behind center.
Dotson finished 13-for-20 for 118 passing yards and the interception.
Pelham comes to town next week for Chelsea, while Thompson will host defending 6A champions Clay-Chalkville.
“Our mentality has to be that we are going to play the next game and win the next game,” Cassity said. “We’re going to keep fighting to do whatever we can do to get that win.”