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Sam Chandler
Briarwood-Chelsea Football
Chelsea's Zalon Reynolds (1) runs with the ball in a game between Briarwood and Chelsea on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Richard Conkle Stadium in Chelsea, Alabama.
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Photo courtesy of Cari Dean
Briarwood-Chelsea Football
Chelsea's Hunter Blackburn (8) in a game between Briarwood and Chelsea on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Richard Conkle Stadium in Chelsea, Alabama.
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Photo courtesy of Cari Dean
Briarwood-Chelsea Football
Chelsea's Dylan Seabolt (16) makes an interception in a game between Briarwood and Chelsea on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Richard Conkle Stadium in Chelsea, Alabama.
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Photo courtesy of Cari Dean
Briarwood-Chelsea Football
Chelsea's Dylan Seabolt (16) defends a pass in a game between Briarwood and Chelsea on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Richard Conkle Stadium in Chelsea, Alabama.
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Photo courtesy of Cari Dean
Briarwood-Chelsea Football
Chelsea's Zalon Reynolds (1) runs with the ball in a game between Briarwood and Chelsea on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Richard Conkle Stadium in Chelsea, Alabama.
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Photo courtesy of Cari Dean
Briarwood-Chelsea Football
Chelsea's Zalon Reynolds (1) runs with the ball in a game between Briarwood and Chelsea on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Richard Conkle Stadium in Chelsea, Alabama.
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Photo courtesy of Cari Dean
Briarwood-Chelsea Football
Chelsea's Matthew Marquet (5) throws a pass in a game between Briarwood and Chelsea on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Richard Conkle Stadium in Chelsea, Alabama.
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Photo courtesy of Cari Dean
Briarwood-Chelsea Football
Chelsea's Matthew Marquet (5) runs with the ball in a game between Briarwood and Chelsea on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Richard Conkle Stadium in Chelsea, Alabama.
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Photo courtesy of Cari Dean
Briarwood-Chelsea Football
Chelsea defenders tackle the Briarwood ballcarrier in a game between Briarwood and Chelsea on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Richard Conkle Stadium in Chelsea, Alabama.
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Photo courtesy of Cari Dean
Briarwood-Chelsea Football
Chelsea's Zac Young (6) and Bailey Hix (23) tackle a Briarwood player in a game between Briarwood and Chelsea on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Richard Conkle Stadium in Chelsea, Alabama.
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Photo courtesy of Cari Dean
Briarwood-Chelsea Football
Chelsea's Regan Wortham (7) makes a tackle in a game between Briarwood and Chelsea on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Richard Conkle Stadium in Chelsea, Alabama.
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Photo courtesy of Cari Dean
Briarwood-Chelsea Football
Chelsea's Matthew Marquet (5) prepares to throw in a game between Briarwood and Chelsea on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Richard Conkle Stadium in Chelsea, Alabama.
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Photo courtesy of Cari Dean
Briarwood-Chelsea Football
Chelsea's Evans Shaw (21) tackles Briarwood's Luke Miskelley (11) in a game between Briarwood and Chelsea on Friday, August 26, 2016, at Richard Conkle Stadium in Chelsea, Alabama.
Quarterback Matthew Marquet juked, running back Zalon Reynolds jived and the Chelsea High School football team (2-0) rolled to a 43-15 victory over Briarwood Christian (0-1) on Friday, Aug. 26, at Richard Conkle Stadium.
It was the third year in a row Chelsea bested its rival.
“I said it last week. I’ll say it again. Marquet and Zalon are special, and sometimes they can turn a broken play into a touchdown,” Chelsea head coach Chris Elmore said. “That’s not coaching. That’s not execution. That’s just good football players, and both of those guys are.”
Marquet rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns, while Reynolds rushed for 58 yards and one touchdown. Through the air, Marquet went 14 for 18, totaling 148 yards and one touchdown.
Collectively, Chelsea produced 456 yards of total offense to Briarwood’s 154.
The Hornet defense stymied its opponent for much of the night, holding it to only 11 first downs and forcing four turnovers.
For the second week in a row, Chelsea scored more than 40 points. Last Friday, the Hornets dropped 49 on Oak Mountain.
“The best team won, and they beat us as bad as the score,” Briarwood head coach Fred Yancey said. “They did a great job. Give their coaches a lot of credit for having a very good team.”
Briarwood jumped out to an early 8-0 lead after scoring on its opening drive. Quarterback William Gray kept an option run and jetted around the right end. 23 yards later, he was in the end zone.
Briarwood caught Chelsea off guard following the TD and added a two-point conversion.
After that, it was almost all Hornets.
On the Lions’ subsequent possession, Chelsea recovered a fumble in Briarwood territory. Four plays later, Hornet kicker Tyler Thomas capped the drive with a 37-yard field goal with just over three minutes to play in the first quarter.
Later in the half, Thomas added a boot of 31 yards.
Two Chelsea drives later, Marquet scored his first TD of the night on a 4-yard burst up the middle. Reynolds added a 4-yard TD run on the next Hornet possession, pushing his team’s lead to 17-8.
Thomas' 31-yarder following another Briarwood fumble put Chelsea up 20-8 at halftime.
“These guys don’t have any quit in them, and we may get down 35 one night, but they won’t quit,” Elmore said when asked about his team climbing out of an early hole. “They’re going to keep fighting. I mean, I wish we could start a little faster.”
Chelsea scored on its first two drives of the second half, and Marquet helped account for both. The agile, 6-foot signal caller darted into the end zone from 31 yards out on his team’s first possession, and then delivered a 3-yard TD strike to wide receiver Lee Rickard on the following drive.
“My performance, it really goes out to the o-line. I think we’ve got a lot of great guys on there that just bust their tails every play,” Marquet said. “I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to be blocking for me.”
Hornet kicker Tanner Middleton nailed a 29-yard field goal at the tail end of the third quarter, giving Chelsea a 37-8 advantage.
At that point, Elmore pulled his starters and let his reserves close out the game.
A 16-yard rushing touchdown from Hornet running back Vick Lindsey, and an 85-yard kickoff return touchdown from Briarwood utility back Carson Eddy finished out the scoring.
Next Friday, both Chelsea and Briarwood will open region play. Briarwood will host Class 5A, Region 5 opponent Moody, and Chelsea will host 6A, Region 3 opponent Wetumpka.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do this week,” Elmore said. “Wetumpka’s a really good team. They’re athletic, very big, very fast, so we’re going to have to play really well again.”
*Mark McLaughlin contributed stats to this report.
