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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Turner Griffin (14) during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Turner Griffin (14) during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Turner Griffin (14) during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Chelsea Football
Collier Blair (01) during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Chelsea Football
Todd Justice (86) during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Turner Griffin (14) during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Collier Blair (01) during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Turner Griffin (14) during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Todd Justice (86) during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Band at halftime during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Band at halftime during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Todd Justice (86) during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Band at halftime during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Fan before Chelsea runs out on the field before a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Todd Justice (86) before a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Collier Blair (01) during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Chelsea Football
Doug Wood (09) during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Chelsea Football
Student section a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Chelsea Football
Chelsea taking the field before a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Turner Griffin (14) during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Collier Blair (01) during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Lando Nichols (17) during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Chelsea Football
Chandler Pruitt (29) during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Turner Griffin (14) during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Turner Griffin (14) during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
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Photo by Jonathan Norris
Chelsea Football
Collier Blair (01) during a game between Pell City and Chelsea on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, at Chelsea High School.
CHELSEA -- Chelsea High School’s football team had numerous opportunities to get past visiting Pell City in a low-scoring regular season finale Friday, but the Hornets just couldn’t convert those opportunities into points in a 10-7 loss.
Five times after the Panthers took the lead on a Darius Garrett 59-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter, the Hornets had chances to take the lead back. And five times they came up short, turning the ball over on downs after failed fourth-down plays on the last four possessions.
“We had some chances, and we succeeded on some but didn’t on others,” a disappointed coach Dustin Goodwin said afterward. “We showed some fight at times.”
And sometimes the wrong kind of fight, as a scuffle broke out between the two teams after the final whistle. Nothing came of the incident, except for an overturned table on the sideline.
In a first half that was almost totally played between the 20-yard lines, the Hornets broke through first with a 42-yard touchdown pass from Turner Griffin to Collier Blair, who crossed the goal line just as the scoreboard clock ticked over to zeroes to end the period.
The Panthers got their first score after a drive stalled out on the Hornets 10. Michael Jett kicked a field goal from 27 yards away to cut the hosts margin to 7-3 midway through the second quarter.The breakthrough for Pell City came with 8:30 to play in the third, as Garrett found the edge on the left end of his line and dashed 59 yards for the score.
On defense, Chelsea had no answer for Garrett, who ran the ball 34 times for 235 yards — nearly outgaining the Hornets’ entire offense.
In the fourth quarter alone, Garrett ran the ball on every play but two, as Pell City tried to run as much time off the clock as it could. He gained 103 yards in the third period alone, more than half that on his scoring dash.
Chelsea’s Griffin generally had a productive night, but two interceptions ended prime chances for his team. On second down at the Panthers 26, he fired a long throw into the end zone, only to be picked off by defensive back Carson Walker. And from the same field position with 4:40 left before halftime, Griffin was intercepted again, this time by Dylan Thomas.
Overall, the Hornets signal-caller completed 11 out of 26 pass attempts with the two picks for 136 yards.
Blair was the main offensive force for the Hornets, tallying 69 yards on 14 rushes plus three pass receptions for 47 yards, most of which came on his touchdown.
Pell City quarterback Mitchell Gossett was 7-of-15 through the air for 63 yards.
It was a disappointing end to a season that began with seven straight losses but showed promise toward the end with two wins before the defeat in the final contest.
The Panthers finish with a 4-6 record — a pair of wins at the beginning and end of the schedule sandwiching six straight losses — while Chelsea finishes with a 2-8 ledger.