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Chelsea stormed out of the gate with 28 points in the first half and held Chilton County’s offense scoreless in a dominant victory to get to 6-0 on the season. (For the Reporter/Cari Dean)

By SCOTT MIMS | Special to the Reporter

CHELSEA — The Chelsea Hornets (6-0) remained undefeated on Oct. 4 in their 35-6 homecoming victory over the Chilton County Tigers (2-5).

Twenty-eight of Chelsea’s points were scored in the offense-heavy first half, and most of them came courtesy of CJ Durbin and Chase Stracener, the latter of which eclipsed 100 yards Friday night.

“I thought overall we played really well in the first half. We had a little letdown in the second half,” said Chelsea coach Todd Cassity, commending his team’s offense in the first half and defense in the second half. “I’m proud of the kids’ hard work and the effort they put into the game.”

Chelsea scored their first points on a 6-yard run by Stracener with 1:12 to go in the first quarter. The Hornets doubled the lead on a reception by Durbin with 7:13 in the second.

With 3:04 remaining in the half, Stracener again crossed the goal line to extend the lead by three touchdowns. Then, Aiden Hughes hauled in a 40-yard pass with just 29 seconds on the clock to make it 28-0 by halftime.

Chelsea continued their domination with the lone score of the third quarter, the fifth unanswered touchdown of the evening with 8:46 on the clock.

It was Kelijah Lucas who scored a 98-yard touchdown run for Chilton County to spoil the shutout, bringing the score to 35-6 with 11:30 in the fourth quarter.

For Chelsea, Miller Bauman went 18-for-24 for a total 200 passing yards with three touchdowns. The team had 184 rushing yards, and Stracener rushed for 163 of them and two touchdowns, plus another touchdown receiving. Altogether, the Hornets had 210 total receiving yards.

Chilton County coach Eddie Wall said the Tigers need to find a way to stop “bad spurts” of short intervals where they give up a lot of points.

“We’ve got to find a way to eliminate five minutes, four minutes of the whole game and just play a little bit better in those time frames,” he said. “Offensively, that was just a tough front to go against and they had a good game plan for us. We’ve just got to make plays when they present them.”

Next week Chelsea will travel to Spain Park for a Thursday night game on Oct. 10, while Chilton County prepares to face Calera on the road Oct. 11.

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