Hornets hang on to beat Wetumpka

The Chelsea High School football team held on to defeat Wetumpka, 35-28, on Friday night at Richard Conkle Stadium.

“Great job by Wetumpka tonight,” Chelsea head coach Chris Elmore said. “When we got up 35-14, I thought that we had the game and then they did a great job of battling back. We missed some opportunities, and I may have gotten a little conservative. Our defense was on the field a long time so I was just hoping that they had enough to finish the game.”

After jumping out to a 14-7 lead, the Indians drove to the Hornet 19-yard line before Bryson Hardy intercepted JD Martin’s pass. The ensuing play, Matthew Marquet connected with Lee Rickard on a 78-yard touchdown to put the Hornets ahead 21-7.

The Hornets led 35-14 early in the third quarter before the Indians scored 21 unanswered.

The game was sealed on a 4th and 24 with 32 seconds left, as senior linebacker Regan Wortham sacked the Indian quarterback to seal the Hornet win.

“I knew I had to come up big on the last play. It was all on the defense’s shoulders. So it was huge when we made the big play,” Wortham said.

For the Hornets, Zalon Reynolds rushed for 143 yards on 19 carries. The passing game was lead by Marquet. He finished the night 9-of-16 for 207 yards and three touchdowns. He rushed for an additional 27 yards and two touchdowns, to give him five total

For the Indians, Martin finished 7-of-14 for 90 yards and two touchdowns. He carried the ball 10 times for 166 yards and added another touchdown to his total.

Chelsea travels to Benjamin Russell next week while Wetumpka remains on the road with a game at Stanhope Elmore.

“Benjamin Russell is a great team and a great program that has beat us soundly the last two years. They are a really good football team and we are going to have to play well to have a chance next week,” Elmore said.