Hornets, Eagles renew rivalry to open season

Football is here.

At 7 p.m. Friday, Chelsea High School opens its 2017 campaign at home against Oak Mountain. The teams, which in 2016 traversed diverging paths to identical destinations, will seek to start their seasons on the right foot.

Last year, the Hornets totaled an 8-3 record during one of the most successful stretches in recent program history. Behind its two key playmakers, quarterback Matthew Marquet and running back Zalon Reynolds, they averaged more than 40 points per game. The team’s season, however, reached a premature end in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs when it fell to Bessemer City, 31-23.

The Eagles, despite accumulating a lopsided  3-7 regular-season record, also managed to squeak into the 2016 playoffs. They sealed their spot in the Class 7A postseason picture with opportunistic victories over region opponents. A date with Hewitt-Trussville in the first round, however, resulted in a 42-point loss that dashed any hopes of an improbable run.

The bitter taste of defeat has lingered in the mouths of both teams this offseason. Now, each is aiming to restart its schedule with a sweet victory.  Whichever squad emerges will do so with a roster that is largely untested.

Chelsea graduated all 11 offensive starters from a season ago, including Marquet and Reynolds. In Marquet’s place, Hornet head coach Chris Elmore will look to Alec Little and Turner Griffin. Little, a senior, tore his ACL against Briarwood Christian last August and spent much of the offseason rounding back into form. Griffin is a junior who Elmore said possesses playmaking ability. The two will most likely alternate throughout the night, with Little taking the first reps.

“I think he’s starting to get a little more confidence as he goes,” said Elmore of Little’s  preseason progression.

Seniors Kendrick Simpson and Joseph Turnes, along with junior Vick Lindsey, are the main candidates to assume Reynolds’ role at running back. Reynolds rushed for nearly 2,000 yards last season, and Elmore is doubtful any one of his ball carriers will reach that mark single-handedly. Collectively, though, he said he feels confident in their ability to achieve equal production.

But their success will hinge upon the play of the offensive line, an area on which Elmore is particularly focused. He said Friday's outcome will likely boil down to his team’s ability to win the battle at the line of scrimmage — on both sides of the ball.

“At the end of the day, if we can compete on the offensive and defensive lines, we’ll have a chance,” Elmore said.

Oak Mountain will start senior Connor Webb at quarterback. Webb played safety in 2016 before changing positions in the offseason, which makes this his varsity start under center. He’ll be flanked in the backfield by senior running backs Luke Percer and Connor Wilson.

Eagles head coach Cris Bell said it will be critical for his team, which also lost a number of key pieces from last season, to maintain its composure down the stretch.

“That’s going to be the key for us, is how we handle adverse situations because they’re going to come,” he said.

They certainly came in last year’s matchup against the Hornets. Oak Mountain jumped out to an early 14-point advantage in its 2016 season opener, but Chelsea rallied to claim a 49-33 victory. The triumph moved Chelsea’s all-time record against Oak Mountain to 1-4, and it set the tone for a resilient season.

“The first game, anything can happen,” Bell said.