(Chelsea Update would like to thank Burrill Strong for the slide shows in this story.)
The Bulldogs scored the first two times they touched the ball, and never looked back, as the Adrian Maples became Chelsea’s latest victim in front of a large homecoming crowd at Jerry Niehaus Stadium on Friday evening.
The vaunted Chelsea defense shut down the Maple offense, only allowing Adrian into Bulldog territory once in each half, and holding them to 118 yards of total offense to secure the fifth shutout in a row for the 6-0 Bulldogs.
Jacob Grob returned the opening kick-off to mid field, and Chelsea marched right down the field with Jack Bush at the helm, and finished off the impressive drive with Trey Seitz crossing the goal line for Chelsea’s first touchdown from the one-yard-line, and a Graham Kuras extra point made it 7-0 less than three minutes into the game.
Five minutes later, it was Seitz again, barreling in for another Bulldog TD. Kuras’s extra point was good, and it was 14-0 Bulldogs. Trey Seitz remains the workhorse for the Bulldogs in the backfield, and gained 111 yards on the night.
Two possessions later, Chelsea was knocking on the door again, after a spectacular 29-yard reception by Noah van Reesema, falling backward as he leapt to catch a Justice Staton pass at the one. But Chelsea couldn’t convert, and turned the ball over on downs after an incomplete pass to the back of the end zone on fourth-and-goal.
Chelsea scored one more time in the first half on a drive that started on the Bulldog 23. This drive featured Seitz again, who had runs of 22 and 14 yards, before breaking free for a 19-yard run for a touchdown to cap the drive with 23 seconds left in the half.
Chelsea got the ball back quickly in the second half after forcing the sixth of eight Maple punts. The Bulldogs had to settle for a field goal, though, when the offense couldn’t get into the end zone after having the ball first-and-goal just inside the 10. Kuras added the three points with a 25-yard field goal to make it 24-0 with 6:48 left in the third quarter.
The Chelsea defense forced the only turnover of the game on the next Adrian possession. The Maples completed a pass, but the Maple receiver coughed up the ball, and the fumble was recovered by Kuras.
Chelsea started this drive at the Maple 45, following a nice pass from Bush to van Reesema for a 26-yard gain. This was followed by a completion to Jacob Somodi to get the Bulldogs inside the 10. Bush threw one more pass to Alexander Vasquez in the back of the end zone for the fourth Bulldog touchdown of the evening.
Yet another extra point by Kuras made the score 31-0 with 1:22 left in the third quarter.
Chelsea struck one more time with Andrew Anstead in at quarterback. On a drive that started at the Maple 35, the Bulldogs faced a third-and-13 from the Adrian 15, when halfback Mikal Nelson powered his way into the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown run to make the score 37-0. A penalty on the touchdown against Chelsea was assessed on the extra point, and Christopher Roush missed the 35-yard extra point attempt.
Adrian had a pair of 20-yard runs on their last possession of the game, and managed to drive down to the Chelsea 20-yard-line.
But time ran out, the fifth straight Bulldog shutout was preserved, and Chelsea marches into Ypsilanti next Friday to take on the 3-3 Grizzlies.
