Chelsea Varsity Football 2007 record: 11-1

Time, time, time is in my locker room. Yes it is.

Nick Hill senses your presence. Be afraid.

After emerging victorious from a postseason tour of the SEC, Chelsea finally got the opportunity to face an unfamiliar opponent, East Lansing, in the newly-created Confused Multiple Identity Bowl. Why does this game qualify for such a cumbersome, perplexing name? It’s simple: East Lansing is the home of Michigan State University, but the ELHS football uniforms closely resemble those of the Penn State, a football rival of MSU. And, of course, Chelsea is close to Ann Arbor, the home of the University of Michigan, which is the instate rival of MSU and a conference rival of Penn State; however, Chelsea’s football uniforms resemble those of Notre Dame, a football rival of Michigan, Michigan State, and Penn State. Oh, and ELHS sports teams are known as the Trojans, which also is the mascot of the University of Southern Cal, which is a football rival of Notre Dame, whose sartorial connection to Chelsea has already been defined.

That was simple, right? Right.

All confusion aside, this game loomed as a major hurdle, with East Lansing bringing its Studly Stud McStuderson running back Issac Harper to Jerry Niehaus Field; though Chelsea had faced fine athletes throughout the season — athletes such as Ypsilanti’s Marvon Sanders and Milan’s Ron Spears — Harper was likely to bring the most significant challenge to Chelsea’s perfect record.

They’re streaking, but they’re not.

Good thing this isn’t a parade.

The first quarter was a bad situation for Chelsea; midway through the first quarter, the Bulldogs found themselves in a hole in a rainstorm. (And really, when it’s raining, a hole is the last place you want to be; holes tend to fill up with water.) After fruitless opening possessions for both teams, East Lansing intercepted a Jeff Adams pass; a few minutes later, Harper took the ball in for a touchdown, giving the Trojans a 7-0 lead they would hold through the first quarter.

The second quarter didn’t improve for the Bulldogs, as a 52-yard Harper run and a 33-yard field goal increased East Lansing’s lead to 17-0; as the deficit increased and the rain fell, Chelsea’s offense gained yardage here and there but struggled to find enough consistency to put points on the board. Passes fell incomplete, rushes fell short, and the zero on the scoreboard cast a heavy glare on the unpleasantly surprised crowd at halftime.

Contrary to popular belief, sometimes people do bend that way.

Donny Riedel plays Follow The Matt Johnson.

In the previous week’s game against Adrian, Chelsea struggled in the first half but came out strong in the second half; the assembled Chelsea fans hoped the second half would bring that same dramatic change on the field. Just briefly, it seemed to be occurring again as Chelsea began to put together a promising drive; unfortunately, the drive resulted in no points, leaving the Bulldogs with the same 17-point deficit and less time to erase it. And there was one more piece of bad news for Chelsea: late in the third quarter, Harper ran 57 yards for the touchdown that most in the crowd presumed was the final nail in the straw coffin that broke the camel’s back. East Lansing was comfortable, Chelsea was morose, and the fourth quarter looked as though it would be merely academic.

Astute readers may have noticed the tentative language surrounding East Lansing’s apparently inevitable triumph; be assured, astute readers (and non-astute readers, too), that such language was intentional. Though East Lansing had thoroughly dominated its way to a 24-0 lead after three quarters, the game wasn’t over; despite its 36-minute nap, Chelsea was not quite ready to cede the game.

Sam Birgy lounges on your comfortable defense.

Pat Dignan can read your mind with his steely gaze.

The fourth quarter brought to life the same team that shut down Adrian in the second half, and as that team began to assert itself, a confused question mark replaced the happy exclamation point in the East Lansing atmosphere. Chelsea’s first touchdown and two-point conversion might not have caused too much consternation on the opposing sideline, but Chelsea’s second touchdown and two-point conversion caused massive consternation by narrowing the previously cavernous deficit to a mere eight points; those with a penchant for higher mathematics may recognize that an eight-point deficit can be fully erased with just one score. And that one-score difference didn’t seem likely to grow; the Trojan offense, a Hungry Hungry Yard-Devouring Hippo for three quarters, seemed to have eaten its fill of yardage. All of a sudden, an imminent East Lansing victory began to look as though it might turn into the burning of Troy.

Chris Morgan has places to go and footballs to catch.

After Chelsea’s second touchdown, the defense did its part by forcing an East Lansing punt; with just under two minutes to play, the Chelsea offense took possession with the chance to tie the game. But sadly, the comeback went unfinished; after three unsuccessful plays, an incomplete pass on fourth down brought an end to the drive. East Lansing knelt down to run out the final few seconds, and Chelsea’s season came to an end.

Leftovers:

• One of East Lansing’s cheers involves the phrase “go blue.” Yes, that phrase is in common usage in East Lansing; there’s something particularly strange about that.

• This marks Chelsea’s third 12-game season in the last eight years; the Bulldogs went 11-1 in 2000, 10-2 in 2006, and 11-1 in 2007.

• Yet again, the premature football banquet made its presence known. This is how it goes: when the football banquet is held during the playoffs — so, prior to the end of the varsity season — the team loses the game after the banquet. I don’t have a firm count of immediate post-banquet losses, but I do know it has happened multiple times, including the past two seasons (Fowlerville 2006; East Lansing 2007). One such occurrence would be frustrating, but multiple occurrences are troubling.

• Full game gallery. Prints available through Burrill Strong Photography.

Next week:
To the dismay of everyone who loves life, there is no next week; there is only a long, cold, dark offseason filled with long, cold, dark offseasony things that exist only to make us long for the start of next football season. But assuming there is no catastrophic or supernatural end to life as we know it, there will be another football season; Jerry Niehaus Field will yet again be filled with life. Hold onto that hope.

In the meantime:
Come out and support the Bulldogs this winter. There are plenty of sports from which to choose; if you make it to hockey or basketball games, you’ll see me there, too. But, of course, I’m happy to show up at other sporting events, as well; if you’re interested, get ahold of me and we’ll iron out the details.

Previous meeting (week 4): Chelsea d. Adrian 21-10

Chelsea Varsity Football 2007 record: 11-0

We’ve got spirits, yes we do! But they come alive on the field.

As the Bulldogs were defeating Tecumseh in the first round of the SEC playoffs — the rumor is that there are other conferences represented, but I’m skeptical — they were keeping one eye on the game between familiar conference foe Adrian and last year’s playoff spoiler Fowlerville; the winner would be making a visit to Jerry Niehaus Field the next Friday evening. Most seemed to expect a Fowlerville victory, which would have given Chelsea the opportunity to make up for last year’s last-minute loss in the third round; however, apparently due to a failure to read the approved script, Adrian decided to win the game, setting up another SEC rematch. Can you feel my excitement? Probably not, because my excitement is being overshadowed by my trepidation.

This rematch brought its own exciting minefield to the SEC Syndicated Reruns Postseason Tour. Chelsea’s week 3 game against Tecumseh was not among the the closer games of the season; by the fourth quarter, the outcome was apparent. In contrast, Chelsea’s week 4 game against Adrian was still in doubt in the fourth quarter; with the offense unable to mount substantial drives, and with the dangerous Brent Ohrman running the Adrian offense, the defense had to make several crucial second-half stops in its own territory to seal the victory. (Actually, the defense gave up only three points the whole game and shut out Adrian in the second half.) Would the Chelsea offense find more success the second time around? Would the Chelsea defense be able to replicate its show of strength against Ohrman and his merry band of majestic Canadian symbols? Inquiring minds want to know! (Which is exactly why inquiring minds will continue reading.)

4. Score more points. Don’t forget that one.

Adrian won the coin toss and followed the advice of Sir Conventional Wisdom, the knight in obvious armor, by choosing to take the ball in the second half; that turned out to be a good choice, as Sir Conventional Wisdom rode in on his mighty predictable steed and smote the Chelsea offense, forcing a three and out.

After Chelsea’s punt, the Adrian offense marched down the field and, after a strong drive, gave up a touchdown. No, seriously: the Adrian offense gave up a touchdown. As Adrian was beginning to make eyes at the end zone, Ohrman encountered a few rabid Chelsea defenders and promptly fumbled the ball; Chelsea’s Stu Mann, moved at the sight of such a helpless little football lying on the cold turf, scooped up the ball and cradled it in his arms as he ran 71 yards for a touchdown. And just like that, when it looked like an Adrian touchdown was nigh inevitable, Chelsea held a 7-0 lead.

Crowds gather to watch Nick Hill exercise.

Who loves ya, baby? Dean Roberts loves ya, baby!

Of course, the quick defensive touchdown meant the defense had to go right back out on the field, and it didn’t seem likely Adrian would punctuate every drive with a timely and devastating turnover; in the short term, this turned out to be true, as the second drive ended with an Adrian touchdown. Even worse, that wasn’t the end of the early fireworks; still in the first quarter, Adrian scored a second touchdown not just to take a 14-7 lead, but also to surpass its point total from the week 4 game. And while the Adrian lead was a problem, more disconcerting was that it was beginning to look as though the defense might not be able to replicate its earlier outstanding effort.

Ah, but just when the game was beginning to look bleak, the Chelsea offense came out and asserted its authority, putting together a lengthy scoring drive that not only tied the score, but also gave the defense a much-needed break. And just as encouraging as the touchdown and the extended time of possession was the the complete team effort that powered the drive; at times this season, the offense has been on the shoulders of just one player, but this scoring drive featured key plays from a number of different players.

Taylor Hopkins: gravity’s best friend.

With the score tied, the defense went back onto the field and, as it had done on Adrian’s previous drives, began to give up yardage; with time winding down in the first half, it looked like Adrian was going to score yet again. But this drive was not like the others; the defense had another outcome in mind. Adrian had the ball inside the 10 yard line, and with Ohrman’s happy feet, a touchdown seemed likely. But on three consecutive plays, the Chelsea defense made monumental stops — the first of which prevented what looked to be a certain touchdown — to keep Adrian out of the end zone; after the third stop, Adrian couldn’t spike the ball in time to salvage a field goal attempt, and Chelsea escaped to the locker room with the 14-14 tie intact. And, perhaps more importantly, the remarkable defensive stand brought a spark to a Chelsea sideline that had been flat and lifeless for much of the first half.

Donny Riedel is a popular guy. Take a number, please.

It’s the end of your run as you know it, and I feel fine.

When the second half began, it felt like an entirely different game with an entirely different Chelsea team on the field. Thanks to Sir Conventional Wisdom, Adrian had the first possession in the second half; however, Chelsea’s defense maintained the momentum it gained from the three stops at the end of the first half, so Adrian came away with nothing. And when Chelsea got its hands on the ball, the offense began to look like its assertive, defense-devouring self; after several first downs, Chelsea was inside Adrian territory, and it looked like the Bulldogs would retake the lead. But the offense stalled, and the punting unit took the field; a superb punt from Jeff Adams pinned Adrian near its own 10 yard line … but there was a flag near the spot of the punt. An Adrian player had contacted Adams after the punt, and the flag — only a five-yard penalty — left coach Brad Bush with a choice: decline the penalty and give Adrian the ball in poor field position, or take the penalty and take a chance on the resulting fourth and two. Bush chose the latter, but Adams’ pass fell incomplete; as a result, Adrian took possession in better field position.

You cannot stop Nick Hill; you can only hope to watch him score.

Would Chris Schmelz care for a football? Yes, he would.

Initially, that sequence of events seemed to give Adrian the momentum yet again; they started marching down the field with first-half ease. But the Chelsea defense was back to its old ways, and the drive died inside Chelsea’s 25 yard line, leaving Adrian a chance at a long field goal. Ohrman’s kick was plenty long enough, but it was just a few inches too far to the left; the ball hit the upright, prolonging the tie and giving Chelsea a boost of confidence. And Chelsea’s offense made good on that confidence this time; Donny Riedel finished a lengthy Chelsea drive with a hard-fought 10-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter to give Chelsea its first lead since midway through the first quarter.

Though there was a quarter of football yet to be played, that touchdown seemed to be the beginning of Adrian’s end; in stark contrast to its offensive efficiency through nearly three quarters, Adrian’s next three possessions were punctuated by timely and devastating interceptions. Between the second and third interceptions, Michael Roberts kicked a field goal that pushed Chelsea’s lead to 10 and really did seal Adrian’s fate; after the final interception, Chelsea was able to run out the clock and celebrate yet another extension of the 2007 season.

Do not adjust your monitor; this is a high-contrast image.

Leftovers:

• Adrian significantly outgained Chelsea, 385 to 245; however, Adrian had only one more first down than Chelsea (21 to 20). The bulk of Adrian’s offense came from passing (289 passing, 96 rushing); nearly all of Chelsea’s offense came from running (226 rushing, 19 passing). But the really notable statistic is the first half yardage totals: at the break, Adrian had a 243-67 advantage over Chelsea. In that context, the 14-14 tie at halftime was a big accomplishment for Chelsea (and most likely a big disappointment for Adrian).

• The first quarter was rough, but ultimately, Chelsea’s defense was up to the task of shutting down Adrian for the second time this season; Adrian scored 14 points in the first quarter and no points in the last three quarters. And without a doubt, those three stops to end the first half rank among the biggest plays of the year.

• Officially, Chelsea’s SEC record is 7-0, but I like to think it’s actually 9-0 now.

Next week:
Chelsea, having won the SEC playoff, faces the Trojans of East Lansing; the game is in Chelsea at 7:00 PM. Be there; be loud; be supportive.

Previous meeting (week 3): Chelsea d. Tecumseh 41-26

Chelsea Varsity Football 2007 record: 10-0

Is this exciting? Of course it is!

One of the reasons the playoffs are exciting is the prospect of playing new teams. Much of the regular season is filled with the same old conference teams, and while the familiar rivals provide their own sort of excitement, it’s always interesting to play teams you wouldn’t meet under normal regular-season circumstances. So, after concluding the regular season against the all-too-familiar Milan Big Reds, the Bulldogs learned that their first-round playoff foe would be the thrillingly unfamiliar … Tecumseh Indians? Wait — something’s not right here.

So yeah, what I meant was that one of the reasons the playoffs are exciting is the prospect of rekindling old rivalries in the atmosphere of a playoff game. The…

Never mind. I can’t type that with a straight keyboard. The idea of meeting a conference team early in the playoffs seems redundant and anti-climactic; just imagine Michigan meeting Michigan State in a bowl game. Well, okay, it might be a little too hard to imagine MSU in a real bowl game, so imagine Michigan meeting Penn State or Iowa in a bowl game; it doesn’t inspire quite the same anticipation as a bowl game against a less familiar team from a different conference. Familiarity may breed contempt, but it doesn’t necessarily breed the best postseason in football at the high school and college levels; at those levels, the game is more isolated and conference-driven with schedules dominated by conference teams, so challenging forays outside the conference have greater appeal.

In recent years, familiarity may not be a strong enough word when it comes to Chelsea and Tecumseh; just a few years ago (2000-01), Chelsea and Tecumseh met four times in two years — two regular-season meetings and two first-round playoff meetings — and Chelsea won all four games. By the end of the fourth game, it was apparent the teams had played two too many games in those two years; fortunately, 2001 was the end of the extra games … until this year, when the MHSAA extended its mighty hand of bracket-making and ordered another first-round playoff game between the schools.

One major concern with a playoff rematch against a team the Bulldogs defeated in the regular season is the potential for a mental letdown by the players (we beat them once, and we’ll beat them again); that was my primary concern all week. But then I went to the team’s pregame meal, and thanks to several different players, I learned that the Ann Arbor News had made an effort to prevent Chelsea from coming out flat; it seems the News ran an article that was not entirely complimentary to Chelsea. I haven’t been able to get my hands on a copy of the article, but the players’ reaction told me what I needed to know: it ensured that they were motivated.

That motivation was immediately apparent when Chelsea took possession of the ball and wasted no time in moving down the field and scoring a 12-yard Nick Hill touchdown to take an early 7-0 lead. Of course, scoring on Tecumseh’s mildly porous defense was only half the battle; while Tecumseh’s defense had allowed at least 21 points in every game except the first (and more than 40 in a few), Tecumseh’s offense had scored at least 26 points in every game except the first (and, again, more than 40 in a few). So, though Chelsea’s quick offensive outburst was encouraging, it was also expected and necessary, just in case Tecumseh had one of those 40-point outbursts.

Sam Birgy does not like the way you’re looking at Nick Hill.

For a while, it was beginning to look like Tecumseh was in the mood to score a few points; as usual, their Large Angry Violent Men offense took the ball and plodded down the field an inch at a time. But in an unusual twist, their drive stalled inside Chelsea’s 20; after a failed fourth-down play, the Tecumseh offense walked off the field with nothing more than a sizable advantage in time of possession. And for an offense that scoffs at the concept of gaining more than 20 yards on one play, coming away with no points on a drive that lasts roughly two and a half years is disastrous; in fact, it’s right up there with such worst-case scenarios as “nuclear holocaust” and “Duke University Football.”

It’s like rain … on your playoff game …

It’s a first down … that you just can’t make …

Naturally, the Chelsea offense took the ball down the field and scored again, this time on a seven-yard Jeff Adams run. After another stop by the Chelsea defense, the offense took the ball and … well, it didn’t even march down the field this time; instead, Adams took the ball around the left end and went 78 yards for the touchdown. At that point, Tecumseh was in a 21-point hole, and it was becoming apparent that six- and eight-minute drives — a specialty of the LAVM offense — weren’t going to keep it close.

If the air were carrying the ball, this would be a great tackle.

Ah, but it wasn’t all dark and depressing for Tecumseh; after Adams’ 78-yard jaunt through the countryside, the Indians came back with an actual no-foolin’ successful drive that ended in an actual no-foolin’ touchdown. The two-point conversion was called back on a penalty, and the subsequent extra point attempt failed, but the touchdown narrowed Chelsea’s lead and provided a bit of life. However, there were still nearly two minutes left in the second quarter, and based on previous scoring drives, that was plenty of time for Chelsea to answer Tecumseh’s touchdown. And answer they did, with a 25-yard pass to Chris Schmelz; the extra point failed, but Chelsea still held a 27-6 lead at the half.

Chris Schmelz celebrates good times. Come on!

When forward progress meets the Chelsea defense, this happens.

Because Tecumseh won the coin toss and deferred, they received the ball to start the second half; the plan was to narrow Chelsea’s lead with another touchdown. But the A-Team’s Hannibal Smith didn’t love the start of the second quarter because Tecumseh’s plan didn’t come together; actually, the plan fell apart when Tecumseh quarterback Andrew Simpson launched a pass that sought comfort in the arms of a Chelsea defender. Not long after that interception, the ball was yet again in the end zone. And, unfortunately for Tecumseh, it wasn’t in the end zone alone; Nick Hill accompanied it on a six-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 33-7.

Thank you; come again.

At that point, the game was essentially over, and Chelsea coach Brad Bush began to bring in substitutes, but the scoring wasn’t yet done. In the third quarter, Chelsea’s Nick Avila scored on a one-yard run; also in the third, Tecumseh answered with its final points of the evening, a six-yard run followed by a two-point conversion; in the fourth quarter, Chelsea closed out the scoring with a two-yard touchdown run by Justin Swarthout (and an extra point by sophomore Tyler Zagarzewski, whose name would be an astounding play in Scrabble if the game included two Zs … and if it happened to be a legal word, which, sadly, is not the case). Before long, the game came to an end, and the Bulldogs celebrated a 10-0 record and another one-week extension of the 2007 season.

This is not how a helmet protects you from injury.

Leftovers:

• The game was a celebration of offense: Tecumseh totaled 348, while Chelsea totaled 512 yards. Tecumseh’s high total fits with the lopsided score because they had multiple lengthy drives that produced no points.

• Nick Hill carried 12 times for 193 yards, for an average of 16 yards per carry. Of course, that’s relatively unimpressive, because Jeff Adams averaged 42.5ypc and Donny Riedel averaged 41ypc. (Grains of salt: Adams had two carries for 85 yards; Riedel had one carry for 41 yards.)

• Scrabblezewski wasn’t the only sophomore to see action; quarterback Dakota Cooley and running back Zack Giller also got in a few snaps. There likely were a few others, too, but those were the names I recognized from the nine Thursdays I spent at JV games this year.

• Ron Spears, Milan’s Million Yard March, left Milan’s first-round playoff game with an injury; later, the Ann Arbor News reported that “Spears … said he actually took a hit to his thigh against Chelsea in Week 9, and Friday’s hit made it worse.” However, he will be ready to play this week.

• The MHSAA put together an SEC-filled district this year; of four teams in the district, three were SEC teams: Chelsea, Tecumseh, and Adrian. The fourth was Fowlerville, the team that ended Chelsea’s season in the third round last year. It might have been nice to face Fowlerville again, but they had the audacity to lose to Adrian, and that means I just stumbled into an excellent segue for this post’s conclusion.

Next week:
Chelsea faces the equally unfamiliar Maples of Adrian, which also happens to be the team that followed Tecumseh on Chelsea’s regular season schedule; the game is in Chelsea at 7:00 PM. If the Bulldogs win again, there will be no more SEC teams on the schedule this season. Seriously. I know it sounds crazy and impossible, but it’s true.