Chelsea Hornets

2014 schedule 

That kid

Every team needs “that kid,” a player who displays heart, leadership or other intangibles — not only under the Friday night lights but also during the sweltering heat of August practices.

“Daniel Fraunfelder is as good a leader as I’ve probably ever been around.  He says all the right things, he’s got the right mentality. He could really play any position on the front (offensive line). We’ve even experimented with, if we can get the other offensive linemen ready to go, putting him in more of a tight end look some. Very athletic center, and the biggest thing is he’s real intelligent, made a 34 on the ACT. You tell him something one time, he’s got it. He can solve problems sometimes before I even see them happen. The intangibles on him are through the roof, a team guy, he just wants to win, doesn’t care who gets the glory. He’s the kind of guy every coach wants to have on his team.” 

-Coach Chris Elmore 

Hornets set on making playoffs

Coach Chris Elmore believes his Hornets can crack the playoffs this season. 

“I’ll be disappointed if we don’t, I don’t mind saying that,” he said. “Things happen, guys get hurt, ball bounces the wrong way, whatever. But if we don’t make the playoffs, I’ll think we had a disappointing year, a bad year. We feel like we’re good enough to be in the top four of that seven-team region.” 

If Chelsea can get off to a good start, Elmore believes confidence will grow for a team that’s gone 4-6 the past two seasons. 

“I believe how we do early will affect how we do late,” he said. “I’m not saying they’re not confident, but you’ve got to keep in mind they’re seniors that had just one region each of the past two years. So confidence is not at a high. We feel like we’re a lot better than we were last year. But you’ve got to have results, too.” 

As he approaches a second season with an intact coaching staff, Elmore believes that will pay off as the players have now bought into the new staff and mentality. It’s a tough, far-flung region for the Hornets, especially with traveling both to Valley and Opelika this season, but it may be slightly easier on the field than the past two seasons in Class 6A, Region 4, which had Spain Park, Prattville, Pelham, Oak Mountain, Thompson, Wetumpka and Stanhope Elmore.

OFFENSE

Chelsea returns four starters and a fifth player who saw a lot of action. Elmore likes the depth in his offensive line this season. Daniel Fraunfelder started at guard but moves to center this season. 

“He’s as good a leader as I’ve probably ever been around,” Elmore said. 

Junior Ben Haskins returns on the line as well, and he may play either guard or tackle. Jacob King has made great strides and will factor in somewhere along the front. Leading rusher Austin Washington has graduated as has Aki Coles, but junior running back A.J. Jones rushed for 605 yards and 6.6 yards per carry as part of a three-man committee. 

Elmore thinks sophomore Zalon Reynolds could be a very special player before he graduates. He rushed for 277 yards and 7.9 a carry. 

“He’s like lightning in a bottle. Something exciting happens when he touches the ball,” Elmore said. 

Reynolds had a year in the weight room to get bigger and stronger and has put on 20 pounds up to 170 since last season. Elmore expects Jones and Reynolds to get 15-20 carries apiece a game. He plans to rotate them mostly, although both could end up in the backfield together. 

Elmore said his wide receiving crew could be among the best he’s been around, especially because of their physical strength and speed. Tyler Blackburn didn’t play last year, opting to focus on baseball, but he brings his 4.5 speed in the 40 to be a big-play threat. 

Returning seniors WR Josh Pugh and TE/H-back Adam Holliday are other key players. Holliday is a do-whatever-it-takes leader. Darrell Foster is Elmore’s wild card. 

“He was really a defensive end last year, and he’s being recruited to play defensive end by Jacksonville State and Alabama A&M, but we’ve moved him to receiver because he’s 6-3, 220 pounds, he can jump, he’s the best basketball player in the school, runs a 4.6 40 … and I just said this guy’s got to impact the game somehow.” 

Teams were avoiding Foster’s side defensively, and although he will still play DE situationally as a pass rusher, Elmore believes he will be a dual threat for the Hornets. 

“To me, the sky’s the limit for him, because he’s still so raw at wide receiver.” 

Who the starter at quarterback will be is still up in the air, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, according to Elmore. Junior Chase Wilson and sophomore Matt Marquet were in a dead heat through spring. 

DEFENSE

Eight returning starters give Elmore reason to be optimistic. Chelsea ended up starting six sophomores at one time in 2013. Some of those might not have been completely ready to be on the varsity field, but that battle-testing should make them that much better as juniors. 

Elmore said his defense has a lot of players who play hard and are very coachable, even if they’re not extremely vocal as leaders at this point. He cites two seniors in the secondary, Mason Moore and Jacob Green, as players who don’t talk much but make big plays and lead by example. Casey Foshee returns at defensive end and is another Hornet who provides leadership for the younger players with his work ethic in the weight room and on the field. Leadership is a key component on this team overall, since the Hornets have only 13 seniors. 

“But I like the 13 we got,” Elmore said. “They do what we ask them to do.” 

SPECIAL TEAMS

This is Elmore’s biggest concern coming into the fall practice, since do-it-all kicker Taylor Martindale has graduated. Replacing the honorable mention all-stater won’t be easy. Sophomore Tyler Thomas and freshman Colby Lambert are competing for the kicking job, while sophomore Justin Painter will likely be the punter. Jones, Green, Reynolds and Blackburn are among the mix for returning kicks, which Elmore feels will be a strength.