It wasn&8217;t easy, but the Chelsea Hornets held off a bothersome bunch of Anniston Bulldogs on the road 54-46 for yet another region victory.

The win improved 5A Chelsea to 5-1, 4-0 and sets the stage for a home game with Moody to secure a spot in the playoffs.

The Hornets led 31-12 at the half, but in a span of about three minutes the Bulldogs scored on a kickoff return and recovered a Hornets&8217; fumble in the end zone for another touchdown.

That set the tempo for a wild ride to the end.

Chelsea Head football coach Wade Waldrop said his players did a good job of playing four quarters of football to stay ahead of the Bulldogs.

Offensively, Davin Palmer exploded for 291 yards and five touchdowns on 31 carries. Quarterback Coty McLaughlin rushed 14 times for 114 yards and one touchdown.

Waldrop said Palmer had over 400 all-purpose yards for the night, which is hard to believe considering the Hornets had 471 total yards rushing to go with 60 yards passing for 531 yards total offense.

They also had 125 return yards.

There&8217;s no time to rest for the Hornets, however. Waldrop said he expects Friday&8217;s night game in Chelsea to be a &8220;dogfight.

&8220;Moody is right on the edge, needing a win for a playoff berth. We feel we need another win to secure a spot.&8221;