By Allen Wright
(Slideshow by Burrill Strong at bottom of story.)
On a crisp fall evening, Chelsea was able to hold off a persistent Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard team and come away with a perfect regular season with a big 41-27 victory.
The Irish were able to stop Chelsea on their first offensive drive of the game, but on the Irish first play from scrimmage Chelsea’s Cal Barrett picked off the Irish’s quarterback Jack Gaderick.
Chelsea was unable to capitalize on the turnover and the Irish were able to move the ball down the field. On a 4th and 1 on the Bulldog 18-yard line Drew Anstead was able to shoot the gap and snuffed the Irish running back with a hard hit and a big loss turning the ball over to the Bulldogs.
Chelsea was able to move the ball downfield after a pass from quarterback Jack Bush to Cam Cooper. Gus Reynolds was able to finish the drive off with a 1-yard run behind his strong left side offensive line.
It was Patrick Bertoni giving the ball back to the Bulldogs with his team leading 5th interception of the season setting up the Bulldogs in good field position. They capitalized quickly on a 22-yard pass to Alex Vasquez, who used his size and speed to fight for the touchdown over the middle of the field. And, the Bulldogs had a 14-0 lead.
After a big run by Reynolds, it was Bush finding Vasquez again down the right sideline for the score giving the Bulldogs a big 21-0 lead at the half.
At halftime, the band honored their seniors and performed a medley of their favorite choices from their years in band.
Before the game, the football team honored all 26 senior players and their parents and gave each mom a flower.
After the always great halftime show by the Pride of Chelsea band, the teams went back to battle. The Irish had differed and received to begin the second half.
It didn’t take long for them to capitalize, as their mobile quarterback Gaderick was able to find a hole, get on the outside then use his speed for a 75-yard score. The extra point was tipped at the line by the Bulldogs and was no good.
Chelsea got the score back though, as Cooper ran a reverse and used his all state track speed and excellent field vision to escape the Irish defenders. Behind his great blockers, he flew 65 yards down the right sideline for a huge Bulldog touchdown, his 8th TD of the season.
The Irish wouldn’t give up though, as they drove the length of the field — 90 yards setting up another score. On their next drive, the Bulldogs’ Ronnie Buford picked off Gaderick and ran 38 yards before Reynolds capitalized on an 8-yard score extending the Bulldogs’ lead.
Chelsea capped off their scoring on the night with a 1-yard run by Louis Happy off the left side of the line for his first touchdown of the season.
The Bulldogs would run out the clock for the big victory and a 9-0 record on the season.
“I’m glad our seniors were able to win on senior night,” Head Coach Brad Bush said after the game. “We finished the regular season the right way. The last couple weeks have been really tough games, Gabriel Richard played until the last minute and made some great plays at the end, but I felt we controlled the game and it was a good win.”
Jack Bush finished with 189 yards passing on the night and 3 touchdowns, two to Vasquez, while Reynolds led the Bulldog rushers.
On the defensive side of the ball, Buford, in just his third game as a Bulldog had a big impact with a sack for a 7-yard loss, an interception with the big return, and a total of 5 tackles.
Kyle Bell had 2 tackles and a big fumble recovery to stall an Irish drive, while Cole Septer and Chris Roush led all Bulldog defenders with 7 total tackles.
Chelsea will play Vicksburg Friday at home in their first round playoff game.
