Lions, Hornets postponed to Saturday

CHELSEA -- Stormy weather kept the Briarwood Christian School and Chelsea High football teams from finishing what they started on Friday night.

The Lions built a 9-0 lead early in the second quarter in a game played on Chelsea’s home field. However, nearby lightning sent the teams to the locker room with 11:10 left before halftime. Fans were asked to wait out the storm in the Chelsea gym or their cars.

After about an hour delay, school officials announced that, because of continued storms in the area, the game would be postponed until Saturday morning. The game will resume at 9 a.m. but will be moved to Briarwood. There will be no charge for admission or parking. 

Neither team did much offensively on Friday night, but the Lions were able to turn two big plays into points.

The first one was provided by the special teams when Mark Hand and Matthew McKenna blocked a Chelsea punt. The ball rolled through the back of the end zone for a safety.

Quarterback JR Tran-Reno and running back Luke Prewett provided the other big play. Tran-Reno threw a middle screen to Prewett, who avoided a pair of tacklers, made his way to the sideline and raced 59 yards for the game’s first touchdown. 

Noah Nall provided the extra point to give the Lions a 9-0 lead with 58.8 seconds left in the opening quarter. 

Chelsea had a promising first drive, stringing together three first downs on the running of quarterback Turner Griffin and running back Vick Lindsey. 

The drive stalled, however,  when Griffin fumbled the ball at the end of an 8-yard run. Briarwood's Sam Hamner fell on the loose ball at the Lions 39-yard line. 

The Hornets had just 28 yards on 16 offensive plays.