By Allen Wright
Slideshow by Burrill Strong
With a chill in the air and in front of a packed home crowd, Chelsea (11-1) played in its third regional final in a row Friday night, losing in OT 42-40.
The Bulldogs faced the undefeated Edwardsburg Eddies, a team that came into the game ranked as No. 2 in the state featuring a Power Wing-T offense.
The Eddies led twice during regulation, but the resilient Bulldogs never gave up, forcing the game into overtime then came up just inches short to end to their outstanding season and finish the year 11-1.
The Eddies struck first with their ball control offense taking almost half of the quarter to score. It became apparent on the kickoff that they wanted to keep the ball out of the Bulldog’s Cam Cooper’s hands as they short kicked it away from him. What they didn’t realize was that Chelsea was full of weapons as Aaron McDaniels fielded the ball for a nice return, setting the Bulldogs up with good field position.
The Bulldogs moved the ball downfield rather easily with a mix of short passes and runs before quarterback Jack Bush hit Bryce Jubenville in the left side of the end zone for a 5-yard score.
In the second quarter, though, it was all Edwardsburg as they drove downfield twice to take a big 22-7 lead.
With only a minute to go in the half after another short kick off, the Bulldogs went into action. With a few good runs by Gus Reynolds, and with only 22 seconds left, Bush completed a 19-yard touchdown pass to Thomas Steele.
Steele had a defender all over him but he managed to rip the ball from him and hold on for the score. The 2-point conversion was no good and Chelsea went into the halftime down, 22-13.
The Eddies received the ball first in the second half and drove 78 yards to build a bigger gap between the two teams. But the Bulldogs came right back, and in less than two minutes, it was Bush hitting Steele over the middle. Steele sprinted into the end zone for a 28-yard score. A Chris Roush extra point, brought the Bulldogs to within 8 with plenty of time left to play.
After a big fourth down stop, Bush hit the outstanding Cooper for a short pass, Cooper out ran and out dodged every defender juking by everyone for a 58-yard touchdown.
The score brought the Bulldogs to within 2 points.
The Eddies would score again, but the Chelsea defense stopped the 2-point conversion leaving the Bulldogs down by 8 points.
Time would play a big factor as the Bulldogs took over late in the fourth quarter. The home team used just over 2 minutes to drive more than 60 yards for the tying score.
Bush was perfect on the final drive as he hit Cooper over the middle on a big pass play and then completed another one to Hunter Neff. A mix of great runs by Steele and Reynolds had the Bulldogs close to the end zone.
With 1 minute and 28 seconds left to go, Bush took the snap from his center Connor Christian and rolled right looking to the end zone. With no receiver open and under heavy pressure, Bush was able to use his strength to avoid tacklers and took off running for the blue and gold endzone.
He ran down the field on the right side and powered his way in, bringing the Bulldogs to within 2 points of tying the game.
As the Bulldog faithful let out a raucous roar of joy, the Bulldogs lined up for the critical 2-point conversion.
The first try was broken up as an Eddy defender was hanging all over the receiver. Refs called pass interference, giving the Bulldogs an even closer attempt.
Bush put his head down on a quarterback keeper and plowed his way into the end zone, tying the game at 34.
After another great Roush kickoff and a great defensive stand, it was clear the Eddies were playing for overtime.
Chelsea won the coin toss and deferred. The Eddies scored and converted the 2-point conversion.
Now it was the Bulldog’s turn. Bush hit Jubenville on the right side as he made a spectacular diving catch at the edge of the end zone. But the 2-point conversion came up just 6 inches short to end the season.
As Head Coach Brad Bush gathered his team as he does after every game, he told them how proud he was of them.
“This was a great football team,” Bush said, “They made one more play than we did.”
He told the team they competed like champions and did everything right. “Every guy here should feel good; we did everything good and everything right. When you walk off that field, you all know you gave everything you had. I couldn’t be more proud of you.”
To the 26 seniors, who in three years are the winningest team in Chelsea football history, Bush said a very heartfelt “thank you.”
Chelsea was led by Bush, who was 18-for-28 with a whopping 234 yards and 5 touchdown passes.
Reynolds had 78 yards on the ground on 12 carries while Cooper had seven receptions for 109 yards and Steele finished with 75 yards on four catches.
The Bulldog defense was led by Patrick Bertoni and Drew Anstead who both finished with 13 total tackles. Cole Septer had 8, Cal Barrett had 7 tackles, and Ronnie Buford, Owen Nikischer, and Chris Roush 6 tackles each. Barrett also had a fumble recovery.
Travis Frazier got a sack giving him 10 and a half on the season. Anstead finished the season with the team lead in total tackles with 61.
Chelsea finished the year at 11-1 and will be bringing back 41 underclassmen next year.
