The Alexandria Valley Cubs used the running of stand-out back Chris Evans Friday night to defeat Chelsea, 35-13, eliminating the Hornets from the AHSAA Class 4A playoffs.

Two goal line stands by Alexandria and an inadvertent whistle late in the fourth quarter played crucial roles in the Hornets’ loss. Chelsea marched to the Cubs’ one-yard line in the second quarter trailing 7-6; but Alexandria was able to stop the Hornets on fourth down and maintain the one-point lead.

Late in the fourth quarter, trailing 21-13, the Hornets caused Alexandria to fumble on the Chelsea 32-yard line, but an inadvertent whistle negated the play and the Cubs’ Evans scored on an 8-yard run three plays later.

&8220;You get a break here and there,&8221; head coach Watt Parker said. &8220;Our guys battled their hearts out, but you never know which way it’s going to go.&8221;

Evans finished the night with 254 rushing yards and scored four times in the win.

&8220;We did everything we could to slow him down,&8221; Parker said. &8220;He’s truly an amazing football player and my hat is off to Alexandria for playing one heck of a ballgame.&8221;

Chelsea’s Coty McLaughlin scored both touchdowns for the Hornets on runs of 60 yards and 1 yard.

Fullback Billy Barnhill finished with 145 yards for Chelsea on 22 carries.

&8220;Billy has been tough for us all year,&8221; Parker said. &8220;He’s been an intricate part of our offense all season long.&8221;

Chelsea’s appearance in the quarterfinals was the farthest into the postseason a Hornets squad had gone in the history of the program.

&8220;We credit all of our seniors for taking us this far,&8221; Parker said. &8220;They’ve been the leaders of our team every year, and I feel like we went farther than anyone in the state thought we would.&8221;