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By NICHOLAS FINCH – Special to the Reporter

TUSCALOOSA — The Chelsea Hornets handled business on the road and cruised to a 49-12 victory over the Paul W. Bryant Stampede Friday night at Paul Bryant Stadium.

“It’s great to be able to score these points,” Chelsea head coach Todd Cassity said. “I thought at times our defense played really well, and then at times we just sort of relaxed. We can’t do that against good football teams. These guys practice hard. They play hard. They do everything you ask them to do, and I hope they can continue to do that.”

Chase Stracener finished the night with 25 carries for 207 yards and three touchdowns. Caden Summers took two carries for 19 yards and a score and caught a pass for a 29-yard touchdown.

Miller Bauman completed 9-of-20 for 213 yards and three touchdowns. Turner Simpson caught two passes for 65 yards and a touchdown, Aiden Hughes added a pair of catches for 54 yards, and Adam Wheeler caught the other touchdown from two yards out.

The Hornets (5-0) wasted little time gaining a lead after Briston Hardy forced and recovered a fumble on the Stampede’s first play.

“Hardy is just a sophomore. He’s going to be a heck of a football player; he is a heck of a football player,” said Cassity. “As he continues to grow and build his body, he’s going to be something else. He hits harder than anybody we’ve got on the team, and he’s a great player for us.”

Stracener took a carry 20 yards for Chelsea’s touchdown. Luke Miller connected on a PAT to put the Hornets up 7-0 with 10:34 on the opening quarter clock.

After Bryant (0-5) missed field goal at 7:08 in the first, Summers found room for a 20-yard scamper for six points and a Miller PAT to put ChHS up 14-0.

Chelsea’s next score came in the opening moments of the second quarter when Bauman and Adam Wheeler connected for a 1-yard touchdown. Miller added his third PAT of the night to give the Hornets a commanding 21-0 advantage, which held through halftime.

Chelsea opened the third with a splash as Bauman hit Turner Simpson for a 61-yard touchdown pass to go up 28-0 after the Miller PAT with 11:43 on the clock.

“We hit that long ball finally,” Cassity said. “I told you going into halftime, you’ve got to hit that shot and we hit it coming out of halftime. People look at us and think they can just play press man on us. We’ve got some kids that can be explosive in the passing game. We’ve got to keep working on that.”

After Javion Johnson and Brandon Johnson, Jr. connected on a 63-yard touchdown to help Bryant avoid the shutout with 10:48 left in the third, the Hornets marched 66 yards and capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown from Stracener to go up 35-6 with 6:09 to go in the third.

With 5:03 on the clock, Johnson, Jr. found the end zone again for the Stampede to cut the lead to 35-12. However, Chelsea responded with a 9-yard run from Summers to go up 42-12 in the high-scoring third quarter.

Stracener put the game away for good with a 50-yard romp with 8:49 left to push the score to the 49-13 final tally.

The Hornets finished with 461 yards of total offense thanks to 248 rushing yards and 213 passing yards. Bryant posted 446 yards of offense with 276 passing yards and 170 yards on the ground.

For the Stampede, Javion Johnson went 10-of-21 for 286 yards and a touchdown, while Brandon Johnson took 15 carries for 130 yards and a touchdown and caught three passes for 120 yards.

“Our schedule is about to get pretty tough, so we’ve got to clear up the mistakes we’re making and get better at the things we’re supposed to be doing,” Cassity said.

Chelsea High School hosts Chilton County (2-4, 0-3 6A Region 3) on October 4 before traveling to a potential battle of unbeaten teams in Region 3 against Spain Park.

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