By Allen Wright
It was an absolutely perfect night for Chelsea’s first home football game of the season.
The Bulldog faithful piled in and the student section and many fans were dressed in patriotic colors as Chelsea took on the Toronto Northern Secondary School Red Knights from Canada.
It was the first time a Canadian football team had ever played in Chelsea. There was no game film or scouting reports on the Red Knights but Head Coach Brad Bush had his team ready and prepared and sent the visitors home with a 43-0 loss.
The Bulldogs kicked off and the defense shut down the Red Knights immediately. On fourth down as Northern punted, hard-hitting junior Matt Weisberg plowed past his blocker and blocked the punt.
After a scramble for the loose ball, Chelsea recovered and started their first offensive drive on the Northern 21-yard line. It took less than a minute and 3 plays for Gus Reynolds to put the ball in the end zone giving the Bulldogs the early lead.
After another quick 3 and out and a great Cam Cooper punt return, it was Quarterback Jack Bush taking off under pressure and making a great throw on the run, hitting Reynolds on a fade in the left side of the end zone to give the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead after the Chris Roush extra point.
After an excellent Roush kickoff and good coverage by Chelsea, Northern was backed up near their own goal line. After a few stops, it was right defensive end Travis Frazier shedding his blocker and putting pressure on the Northern quarterback, tackling him in the end zone. The ball was spotted at the 1-yard line though and Northern took the safety on fourth down instead of punting to the speedster Cooper.
“I really thought it was a safety, I had him good,” said Frazier. “But it’s OK, they took the safety on the next play, it’s all about the team.”
Chelsea took over with great field position again. The Bulldogs lined up at the Northern 30 and Bush threw a quick pass to Cooper who flew down the field behind great blocking and scored, putting the Bulldogs up 23-0.
Then Bush started putting in some of the younger players to give them all a chance to play and gain experience.
In the second quarter, Drew Anstead took over at quarterback and completed a perfect pass to tight end Alex Vasquez for a score, the team going 50 yards in just 3 plays.
After another defensive stop, it was Reynolds picking up his second touchdown of the game following his blockers and juking defenders to blast it in for a 27-yard score. Bush came in to kick the extra point giving the Bulldogs a 37-0 lead going into the half.
In the second half, it was all Chelsea despite playing more conservatively. Senior Mikal Nelson went in to finish the rest of the game at quarterback. He scored late in the fourth on a 6-yard quarterback keeper.
“I used to play quarterback but then I stopped growing,” Nelson said.
The Bulldog defense forced bad passes, made great tackles, and forced turnovers. Hunter White and Braden Steele each had interceptions for Chelsea.
Frazier had an excellent game finishing with 5 tackles and 3 sacks in limited duty. James Mida finished with 2 tackles and a sack. The defense limited Northern to just 3 total yards of offense on 32 plays.
Bush was perfect for the night completing all 6 of his passes for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Reynolds led all Bulldog rushers with 54 yards on 6 carries and 2 scores, while junior Aiden Chisolm-Blockton finished with 23 yards on 3 carries. Cooper led all receivers with 46 yards on 2 receptions.
Chelsea plays host to their rival Dexter Friday. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
