(Chelsea Update would like to thank Burrill Strong for the photos in this story.)
The Chelsea varsity football team has outscored their opponents 110-14 in the first three games of their 3-0 season, and 83-0 in their last two games.
The Bulldogs opened the Southeastern Conference (SEC) schedule with a 45-0 drubbing of the Dexter Dreadnaughts on Friday evening at Al Ritt Stadium, continuing to look strong on both defense and offense.
In the first half, the Bulldog defense didn’t allow a single Dreadnaught first down, forcing four punts.
On offense, the Bulldogs scored on four of their five first half possessions. Chelsea only failed to score on their first possession, but drove down to the Dexter eight-yard-line before a failed fourth-down conversion.
On their second possession of the game, Chelsea got the ball on the Dexter 30 after a poor Dexter punt. It took the offense a while to get rolling, but on third and nine from the Dexter 29, quarterback Jack Bush scrambled for a 15-yard gain after failing to find an open receiver, giving the Bulldogs a first down at the Dexter 14. The offense stalled again, but on fourth-and-six at the ten, Bush found wide receiver Bailey Edwards for a complete pass down to the one, and on the next play, Bush kept the ball for a one-yard plunge into the end zone for Chelsea’s first score of the game, and a Noah van Reesema extra point made it 7-0.
Chelsea’s next drive began at the Dexter 43, and featured a 30-yard pass completion to Jacob Scheese on the first play from scrimmage. With 35 seconds left in the first quarter, Bush found Edwards in the back corner of the end zone for the second Bulldog TD of the half, and a Graham Kuras extra point gave Chelsea a 14-0 lead.
Chelsea’s next drive had quarterback Justice Staton leading the way, and after a 16-yard run by Trey Seitz down to the Dreadnaught 18, Staton found Scheese for a 15-yard TD pass over the middle, and the score was 21-0 following a Kuras extra point.
Chelsea got the ball back one more time in the first half, this time pinned down inside their own one-yard-line. Bush connected with Jacob Somodi for a 21-yard pass to get the Bulldogs out of the hole. After some solid running by Seitz, and completions to Alex Vasquez and Edwards, Kuras added a field goal for the Bulldogs with three seconds left in the half, giving Chelsea a comfortable 24-0 lead at the intermission.
The second half started with Jacob Grob returning the Dexter kick-off to mid-field. After a 12-yard swing pass to Seitz from Staton for a fourth down conversion, Staton found Edwards, who eluded a tackler to take the ball into the end zone for a 23-yard TD. A Kuras extra point gave the Bulldogs a 31-0 lead.
The Chelsea defense forced a Dexter fumble, and Chelsea had the ball right back. Van Reesema made a diving grab of a Bush pass, and the Bulldogs were knocking on the door again, with first-and-goal just inside the Dexter 10. On fourth-and-goal inside the one, Bush kept the ball, and barreled into the end zone for the fifth Chelsea touchdown of the evening. The extra point gave Chelsea a 38-0 lead.
On Dexter’s first play following the ensuing kickoff, Bulldog strong safety Jordan Haber recovered a Dreadnaught fumble in the end zone for a third Chelsea TD in a row. After Chris Roush added the extra point, it was 45-0.
Dexter got the ball one more time, but Chelsea linebacker Armani Altomonte came up with a big sack, and the next play saw an interception by Bulldog safety Cole Septer. After that, all Chelsea had to do was run out the clock.
Chelsea takes on the Ypsilanti Lincoln Friday at home.
