Chelsea overcomes slow start in convincing win
The start was far from ideal for Chelsea High on Friday night in a key Class 6A, Region 3 contest against visiting Chilton County. The response, however, couldn’t have made Hornet head coach Chris Elmore any prouder.
The Hornets overcame a slow start that included three Chilton County touchdown passes in the first three minutes and eventually wore down the Tigers in a 63-35 Chelsea victory.
“I thought they made three really great catches early,” said Elmore. “I thought we had guys there. They just made phenomenal plays and runs after the catch. That would have been easy to lose your composure. There was literally about three minutes gone in the game – I think – and we kept telling them ‘Stay the course, don’t panic’.”
It’s a lot easier to avoid panicking when running back Zalon Reynolds and quarterback Matthew Marquet are on the field. Reynolds was sensational, running for 196 yards on 28 carries with three touchdowns. All but 16 of his yards came in the first half. Marquet carried the ball 16 times for 90 yards, scoring twice on the ground, and was 11 of 13 for 123 yards with touchdown through the air.
But, that was just part of the big comeback for the Hornets, who remained on track for a playoff berth.
“What I was really proud of the most was our tight end (Zach Adams) went out in one of the first series and we kind of had to change how we did things,” Elmore said. “We had to go to a more true four-receiver set. I was proud of our offense kind of adjusting on the fly and not panicking. We just kept doing what we do and scoring points.”
Chelsea (6-2 overall, 3-2 Region 3) finished with 366 rushing yards on 60 carries and 489 yards overall on 73 plays. Running back Austin Stallworth added three rushing touchdowns and the lone touchdown reception came from Jay Vickers.
While the stats may not show it, the Chelsea defense also played well. Most of Chilton County’s damage came in the first three minutes. The Tigers scored on the game’s second play when quarterback James Davis hooked up with Keshawn Williams on a 71-yard touchdown pass. After a successful onside kick, Davis found Keaton Sullivan for a 29-yard touchdown on first down.
Chelsea answered with a long scoring drive that culminated with Reynolds’ first touchdown. On the next play from scrimmage, however, Davis and Patrick Rogers combined on an 80-yard touchdown pass to give the Tigers a 21-6 lead.
At that point, the Tigers (3-6 overall, 1-5 Region 3) had run just four plays and they had 198 yards and three touchdowns. After that, the Tigers managed just 244 yards on 43 plays.
“Defensively, I thought we played really, really well after the first three plays,” Elmore said.
It was a defensive play by defensive tackle John Bass that changed the complexion of the game. It came on Chilton County’s fourth drive of the game when the Tigers were grinding the ball down the field with a 21-12 lead. The promising drive stalled, however, when Bass hustled to the sideline and knocked Davis out of bound a yard short on 4th-and-8 from the Hornets 33-yard line.
The Chelsea offense responded with 29 consecutive points and eventually led 41-28 at halftime.
Chelsea controlled most of the second half and walked away with the comfortable win. Now the Hornets will go to work on clinching the playoff berth. The Hornets could have clinched on Friday with a win and a Helena loss but the Huskies knocked off Benjamin Russell to remain alive. Chelsea plays host to Helena next week.
“I think we’ve still got work to do,” Elmore said. “I think there is probably a way we can get in by not winning next week but we don’t want to think about that. It will be a good ballgame.”