Hornets attempt to capitalize against Pelham

The schedule has dealt the Chelsea High School football team no favors in the opening weeks.

For a team attempting to establish continuity after losing all 11 starters on offense and several defensive starters, the Hornets have had to face Class 7A foe Oak Mountain, Briarwood — the current No. 1 5A team — and has opened up Class 6A, Region 3 play the last two weeks against Wetumpka and Benjamin Russell, two of the better teams in the region.

The Hornets have begun the season 0-4 overall and 0-2 in Region 3, but they have gotten more comfortable each week and still have time to turn things around.

Friday at 7 p.m., Chelsea hosts Pelham in a critical game for both squads in terms of the region standings.

Pelham (2-2, 1-1 Region 3) knocked off Helena, 29-25, last week to pick up its first region win.

Last fall, Chelsea ran away with a 55-35 win in the meeting between the two teams. The Hornets notched 21 points in the first quarter and opened up a 27-point lead by the third quarter to pull away.

Both teams have fallen victim to Benjamin Russell in the first two weeks of region play. Two weeks ago, Pelham lost 35-28. Last week, Chelsea dropped a 27-0 decision.

The Hornets defense came out of the gates with energy last week, forcing a quick three-and-out, but Chelsea muffed the ensuing punt, putting the defense right back on the field after a stop and giving Benjamin Russell great field position.

Hakeem Stanford picked up a sack and the Hornets defense stood strong, placing the Wildcats in a precarious fourth down situation. Opting to attempt the fourth down conversion instead of a 46-yard field goal, Benjamin Russell quarterback Landon Cotney lofted a 29-yard touchdown pass to put the visitors on top 7-0 and erase the early momentum.

Chelsea committed three turnovers in the first half, including one inside the Benjamin Russell 25-yard line to eliminate a prime scoring opportunity.

“You can see when you turn on the film and watch the game that we are close, we just have to find a way to eliminate the mistakes and string together some good plays and gain confidence, which I don’t think we have much of right now and I need to do a better job of preparing our guys,” said Chelsea head coach Chris Elmore.

Senior defensive back Reid Burleson stopped the visitors’ opening drive of the second half with an interception with his foot on the goal line.

Chelsea finished with more first downs (14) than Benjamin Russell (9).

Freshman running back Collier Blair paced the Chelsea offense with 63 yards rushing, while quarterback Turner Griffin had 122 yards passing. His favorite target was junior wide receiver Reggie Fisher (three receptions, 43 yards). Defensively, Stephen Fant chipped in a sack.

“I know we are off to a slow start, but I think our offense is about to step up and we are confident the defense will keep playing well,” Burleson said.

Friday would be a perfect time to begin putting it all together.

— John Phillips Jr. contributed to this report.