After  Chelsea’s first 0-3 since 1997, the Bulldogs got a welcome break from its Schedule of Certain Death — Chelsea’s first three opponents are a combined 11-1 so far this season — when 0-3 Ypsilanti came to town.

Hey, you know what’s fun about Ypsi? It seems like every week I find out another Chelsea teacher or football coach is from Ypsi. I’m worried that at some point I’m going to find out I’m from Ypsi, even though I’m not. Ypsi is contagious, right?

It was Future Bulldog Night, too, so the middle school football players were on the sidelines during pregame.

Oh hey, this is the MAYOR:

There is no truth to the rumor that the city council puts on pads and plays a quick game of football before meetings. AS FAR AS I KNOW.

Do you want to caption this picture?

You should. Please do.

I was happy to get this photo…

…and based on the response on twitter, more than a few of you all were happy about it, too.

As part of Future Bulldog Night, the young football players got to run under the banner…

…and then the varsity took the field.

And then the fun started! WHO WANTS A HUG?

This went on to be Chelsea’s first touchdown:

See?

Ypsi’s punter had a rough evening. The second punt got blocked into the end zone, and…this happened:

This hit was very hard and very well-timed…

…and it resulted in an interception, which was promptly returned for a touchdown.

This is Coach Taylor:

There is no truth to the rumor that Coach Taylor is a Terminator. AS FAR AS I KNOW.

Oh hey, look. Another touchdown!

Ypsi scored, too.

Sometimes the refs need a little help, you know?

This turned into another Chelsea touchdown:

This also turned into a Chelsea touchdown:

If you thought Chelsea seemed to be scoring a lot of touchdowns…you thought right.

There was rejoicing.

Chelsea football plays at Adrian on Friday at 7pm. Be there!

After two rough losses, the Bulldogs had to travel to Bedford in week 3. If you’ve never been to Bedford, here’s how you get there: point your car south and drive for three days. OKAY, maybe it’s not quite three days, but it seems like it. To make matters worse, an accident on the highway made the obstructive glob of humanity of Ann Arbor even MORE obstructive and the only way to avoid Ann Arbor-area traffic at that hour is to stay home, so for the first time in years I was late to a Chelsea football game. It was not a good start to the evening. And when I arrived, I saw faces like this:

So…yeah. Not much more to be said about that. Excuse me while I call my therapist.

I’m including this next photo simply to point out how close Berkley is to putting his knee on the ground:

He did not tackle himself on that play, and in fact, later in that drive he scored a touchdown:

This halfback pass…

…ended up here:

Take a moment to notice the difference between those photos. Did you notice how the second photo looks brighter than the first even though they were taken only seconds apart with the same settings? Here’s the deal: Bedford’s lights are aimed more at the sidelines than they are at the middle of the field. In the above photo, take note of the middle of the field compared to the far side of the field. The sidelines are substantially brighter than the middle of the field. It’s…baffling. And they’ve been that way for years. It must be the gravitational pull of Ohio or something.

The second half did start with a nice highlight in the form of an interception by the Chelsea defense:

There was another highlight in the form of a touchdown:

But it just kept going wrong:

That’s been an uncommon sight for Chelsea football over the past decade. Chelsea typically has been on the happy end of those scores.

As if that wasn’t enough, there was a bit of rain during the second half, too:

NOOOOOOO I DON’T WANT TO POST THE FINAL SCOREBOARD SHOT PLEASE DON’T MAKE ME.

Okay FINE.

Ugh.

Week 2 took Chelsea up to East Lansing, which is rumored to be the home of some university. I don’t know. No one has ever proved that. Anyway, for holiday weekend reasons or something the game was played on Thursday, which isn’t at all Friday, but whatever. Football is football.

Pregame:

Football:

Jay blocked East Lansing’s first extra point attempt.

Like dark chocolate, manual transmissions, and unconditional love, football is one of life’s great highlights. Chelsea started its 2012 season at home against Jackson Lumen Christi.

Pregame:

Football:

Zach (23) was happy after making a 43-yard field goal.

Former Bulldog and current Michigan State Spartan Nick Hill showed up to cheer on the team.

Halftime:

More football:

This went for a touchdown.

Sadly, Lumen Christi defeated Chelsea 34-27.