By CHRIS MEGGINSON | For the Reporter

BIRMINGHAM – Chelsea held ninth-ranked Jackson-Olin scoreless in the second and third quarters Friday night at J-O Field, but the Hornets were unable to overcome the Mustangs’ 14-point first quarter in a 22-0 region loss.

J-O quarterback Brandon Ward connected with Kentrel Calhoun on a 39-yard touchdown pass, followed by a 14-yard touchdown run by Kason Jones to give the Mustangs their early lead. The second touchdown was set up by a fumbled option pitch, one of two Chelsea fumbles in the game.

Calhoun finished with 125 yards receiving and Jones collected 95 yards rushing to make up a bulk of Jackson-Olin’s 250 yards.

Connor Griffin intercepted a Ward pass in the second quarter inside Chelsea territory to help keep the score 14-0 at the half. It was one of two interceptions by Griffin, who led Chelsea with seven solo tackles and one assist.

“Our defense played extremely well the whole football game,” said Chelsea head coach Dustin Goodwin. “We came out of halftime and tried to make some adjustments.”

The Mustangs (4-0, 2-0 Class 6A, Region 5) didn’t find the end zone again until the fourth quarter on a 14-yard pass to Alvin Toney. The 2-point conversion was good to extend the lead to 22-0.  Ward finished the game with 137 yards 11-of-21 passing and two TDs.

Turner Griffin led Chelsea’s offense with 115 yards on 10-of-26 passing with Lando Nichols on the receiving end of 69 of those yards. Collier Blair led the ground attack with 56 yards.

“We’re having a hard time passing the football and hard time running the ball also … Ultimately we’ve got to get better offensively and keep playing the way we did on special teams and defense,” Goodwin said.

Stephen Fant led the Hornets with seven tackles and three assists, as well as a sack, while Matt Fant had five tackles and an assist.

While Chelsea falls to 0-4 and 0-2 in Region 5, Goodwin says he believes the team is showing improvement ahead of its home game with Pelham on Sept. 21.

“We’re headed in the right direction. I know our record tonight is not where we want it to be but I feel like we’ve improved each week,” Goodwin said.

Chelsea statistician Mark McLaughlin contributed to this story.