Hornets make non-region trek to Gardendale

The Chelsea High School football team needs to channel its resilience and offensive success from the final few minutes of last week’s game.

If the Hornets can do that, they will be in good shape as they travel to Gardendale for a 7 p.m. kickoff against the Rockets on Friday night.

Chelsea is still in search of its first victory after battling back to tie Pelham at the half, but ultimately falling, 36-23, last week.

Chelsea head coach Chris Elmore said after the loss, “I thought we played pretty well in the first half, but we didn’t execute and we made some mistakes that you can’t make in the second half, and that was huge.”

After falling behind 23-7, Chelsea scored a pair of touchdowns in the final 2:10 of the second quarter, one on a 6-yard Kendrick Simpson run and another on Collier Blair’s 32-yard reception after a blocked punt.

“I’m really proud of the way our guys kept fighting in the first half,” Elmore said. “We were down 16 points but [the players] didn’t give up, and they made plays to keep us in the game.”

However, the Hornets gained just three first downs in the second half as Pelham pulled away.

“We just have to keep plugging,” Elmore said.

The Hornets will continue to battle, and the next opponent is a Gardendale team that comes in winners of three straight after dropping its first two contests of the season. The game is a break from region play for both sides.

Gardendale is off to a 2-0 start in Class 6A, Region 6 play, with wins over Carver-Birmingham and Minor in the last two weeks.

Last year’s contest between the two squads saw Chelsea come away with a 38-21 victory, as the backfield combination of quarterback Matthew Marquet and running back Zalon Reynolds combined for 335 yards rushing.