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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

SARALAND – The Chelsea Hornets’ best campaign in eight years ended on Thursday, Nov. 7 at the hands of the top team in Class 6A as the Saraland Spartans defeated the Hornets 42-3 at Saraland High School in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.

“Obviously, Saraland is a very talented football team,” Chelsea coach Todd Cassity said. “I thought our kids played hard, thought the kids did everything we asked them to do. We just got a little bit outsized, a little bit out-speed with the faster kids. We just were not able to do what we wanted to do to win the game, but I thought it was an excellent opportunity for our kids to play in a playoff game.”

Saraland didn’t take long to make an impact on the game as Texas commit KJ Lacey uncorked an 80-yard touchdown pass on the game’s first play to put the Spartans up 7-0.

Later in the first after the teams traded punts, Saraland capped a lengthy drive with an 11-yard scoring throw to running back Santae McWilliams Jr., making the score 14-0.

However, the Spartans quickly got the ball back and scored off a 25-yard throw from Lacey to Carson Gill, putting the hosts up 21-0 as the first quarter ended.

Chelsea prevented another scoring drive with a John Jackson interception with five minutes left in the second. The Hornets eventually got on the board off a 23-yard Luke Miller field goal, cutting the deficit to 21-3 with 11 seconds remaining in the half.

After a Chelsea punt to open up the third, Lacey launched a 55-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 28-3 with eight minutes to go in the quarter.

Saraland kept up the scoring pace, this time on the ground as McWilliams Jr. hit paydirt from 29 yards out with four minutes left in the third, taking the Spartans’ lead to 35-3.

After the teams traded punts, the Hornets tried to get something going in the final minute of the third but took a sack and eventually turned the ball over on downs.

Starting out on the Chelsea 46, Lacey quickly got down to the 2-yard line after connecting with Deshawn Spencer. McWilliams Jr. then kicked off the fourth quarter with a 2-yard punch-in touchdown in the opening minute of the quarter.

That put the finishing touches on the 42-3 score line, ending the Hornets’ season in the first round of the playoffs.

After the game, Cassity was proud of how hard his team fought in the game but chalked much of the result up to Saraland’s players being bigger, faster and stronger than his.

“Our kids played just as hard as they did, but sometimes you’ve got a 4.4 kid running against a 4.9 kid, you’re not going to have as much success, so that’s the biggest thing,” Cassity said.

Despite the loss, which is the team’s fifth straight to end the campaign, the Hornets still secured their first winning season since 2016 and playoff appearance since 2021 to take the next step.

Cassity credited much of that turnaround to the senior class. While they only had 15 seniors this season, he believes their experience against challenging teams in 7A in 2022 and 2023 helped prepare them to lead this group to the playoffs in 2024.

“I think just the seniors and their ability to fight through a lot of issues like just the fact that it’s a small group, they made it through two years at 7A and they made it through and led us into a playoff situation this year, and starting the season 6-0, winning some tough games, I think all that’s really important,” Cassity said.”

He believes the example they set will help propel the program forward as roster numbers continue to grow and the players keep progressing on and off the field.

“The senior class is a small group. They’ve provided so much leadership for this group,” Cassity said. “I think moving forward our numbers are going to be so much bigger. We’ve just got to get in the weight room and continue to get bigger, stronger and faster in there and continue to grow our character and leadership.”