By MARK WINDHAM/For the Reporter

The Chelsea Hornets pushed Prattville to the limit, but in the end, Prattville would come away with a 40-27 victory over the Hornets on senior night at Chelsea High School.

After the visiting Lions jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, the host Hornets answered back.  Jacob Green intercepted a Prattville pass put the Hornets in business.  Chelsea took control and marched 68 yards on 11 plays.  Aki Coles ran the ball five times for 45 yards on the drive and quarterback Trent Hagin scored on a 1-yard run to put the Hornets on the board.  Taylor Martindale’s PAT tied the game at 7-7.

After Prattville retook the lead at 13-7, Chelsea answered right back.  The Hornets drove 45 yards, but the drive stalled and Martindale kicked a 34-yard field goal to pull Chelsea to within 13-10.

Prattville would then put 20 straight points on the board from midway through the second quarter till the nine-minute mark of the third quarter to extend their lead to 33-10.

Chelsea once again came fighting back as Zalon Reynolds returned a kickoff 72 yards to the 3-yard line.  Two plays later A.J. Jones rushed up the middle for a touchdown and Martindale’s PAT made the score 33-17.

After an exchange of punts, Martindale recovered a Prattville fumble to get Chelsea back in business.  The Hornets drive stalled, but Martindale kicked his second 34-yard field goal of the night to make the score 33-20.

Chelsea looked to be in great shape when they recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff.  However, an inadvertent whistle nullified the fumble recovery and Chelsea was forced to kick off again.  Prattville took the kickoff and marched down the field for a touchdown and a 40-20 lead with 6 minutes remaining in the game.

Chelsea continued to fight though as Hagin hit Jones on a pass in the flats and Jones took it 61 yards for the touchdown. Martindale added the PAT again to close out the scoring as Chelsea would fall 40-27.

Chelsea head coach Chris Elmore commented on the effort put forth by his team and the leadership shown by the senior class.

“I’m proud of the fact that our guys didn’t back away and they played as hard as they could play,” Elmore said.  “You have to give our guys credit because they fought to the very end and you can’t be more proud of a group of guys than that.”

Chelsea finished the night with 136 yards through the air and 159 yards on the ground for 295 total yards.  Trent Hagin completed 9-of-20 passes for 136 yards with a touchdown and an interception and added a touchdown run.  Aki Coles ran for 66 yards and Austin Washington added 54 yards rushing and 28 yards receiving.  A.J. Jones contributed 40 yards rushing and 61 yards receiving with a touchdown.

Chelsea closes out their season Nov. 1 when they travel to Shelby County.

Mark McLaughlin contributed to this article.