Hornets travel to Pelham coming off first loss

Chelsea High School had its chances against Benjamin Russell last week in a 40-29 loss.

The Hornets led 21-20, but failed to finish the game against a Wildcat team expected to be contenders in Class 6A, Region 5, along with Opelika and Chelsea.

“Defensively, I thought our defense we played pretty well. We gave up a couple of big plays,” Chelsea head coach Chris Elmore said after the game. “We’re sitting there with five minutes to go in the game and they’d only scored two touchdowns. It was anybody’s game. We just didn’t take advantage of our chances on offense.”

Two late interceptions helped seal the win for Benjamin Russell.

The loss gave Chelsea its first loss of the season, and the Hornets now sit at 3-1 overall and 1-1 in region play. They have a chance to get back to their winning ways at Pelham on Friday night.

“I think the bottom line is it’s one game. It’s a road region game. Yes, we wanted to win it, but this doesn’t define our season. We’ve got a very good Pelham game on the road next week,” Elmore said.

Chelsea quarterback Matthew Marquet finished the game with 157 yards on 18-of-32 passing and 51 yards rushing, and will look for more success against a Panther defense that played well on the way to its first win last week against Helena.

Pelham is led by quarterback Elisha Hudson, who is the definition of a dual-threat QB. Hudson threw for 119 yards and two touchdowns, while gaining 112 yards on 15 carries.

The game is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday.