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JV make it five straight downing Dexter; freshman team still undefeated

Courtesy photo. Todd Ortbring.

(Chelsea Update would like to thank Todd Ortbring for the photos and the information in this story.)

And the JV football express just keeps on rolling.

This time through their longtime rivals the Dexter Dreadnaughts with a 20-6 victory. The win was not a thing of beauty, but it was the fifth straight for gridders after starting the season 0-3. It also clinched the SEC White Division title for the JV team.

In addition, hats off the Chelsea freshmen football team as they won their 8th straight game, this time beating Dexter, 42-0. It marked the 18th straight win for Chelsea freshmen teams going back to last year.

(Rumor has it that only one Chelsea frosh team has ever gone undefeated — and that was a team lead by former CHS coach and Athletic Director Wayne Welton, back in the late 1960’s.The Bulldogs were a little sluggish on offense through much of the first half.)

During the JV game, several promising drives were stopped by Bulldog mistakes including losing a fumble on the Dexter one-line yard line as the first half ended. Chelsea was able to strike first when Cam Starkey hit freshman receiver Jake Scheese on a 7-yard TD pass giving the Dawgs a 6-0 lead. The remainder of the half was dominated by the two defenses.

Chelsea held the Dreads to only one first down the entire half and the score at intermission remained 6-0.

Chelsea received the second half kick and mixed the pass and run to move the ball quickly into the Dexter red zone. At the 9:35 mark running back Scott Moore bolted 13 yards for a score and with the 2-point conversion, gave the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead.  Following the score, Dexter took the kick off to mid-field and mounted a drive of their own. After a successful fake punt kept their drive alive, the Dread’s running back scampered 31 yards for a score and with the point after, closed the gap to 14-7.

The Bulldog offense responded just 3 minutes later with another scoring strike through the air as Starkey hit Jacob Dobberstein for a 31-yard score to put the Dawgs up for good, 20-6.

Starkey would complete 15 of 20 passes on the evening for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns.

In the fourth quarter, the aggressive Chelsea defense totally dominated the Dreads forcing several punts. The “D” line lead by Grant Ortbring with Kolten Savery, Colin Steinhauer, Tim Johnson, Quinn Kelly, and Karl Collins controlled the line of scrimmage all night, making numerous tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Also contributing on defense were linebackers Jacob Rhodes, Ben Whitesall, Zach Trester, Mason Bailey, and Moore. Leading tacklers in the secondary were Ryan, O’Quinn, Dobberstein, Garrett Farmer, and Dustin Beckett.

The Bulldog offense was very balanced with 150 yards passing and another 160 yards rushing. Making his first start of the year at running back, Scott Moore totaled 107 yards on 18 carries and a rushing TD. Also contributing rushing yards were Kenny McDowell, Starkey, Jeremy Policht, Daniel Klink and Bailey. Starkey completed passes to 7 different receivers including McDowell, Scheese, Daniel Lindauer, Trevor Kingsley, Moore, Policht, and Connor Dehring.

“It’s been an amazing season for this team,” said Coach Chris Orlandi. “An immature squad might have bickered or given up on the season after an 0-3 start. This team turned it around and swept the SEC White.

“Our defense has been as consistent as can be throughout the season and has led this turnaround,” he said. “Offensively, we struggled tonight, but we know we can score on anybody.”

He added that the team will have a great test against Haslett this week. “I know our team is looking forward to the challenge,” the coach said.

The JV squad will end their season with a trip to Haslett with a chance for a sixth straight win.

Courtesy photo. Todd Ortbring.

 

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