Freshmen: defeated Huron 34-18
JV: defeated Huron 19-6
Varsity: 1-0 (0-0 SEC White)

Varsity 2008: defeated Huron 35-27

After a one-year absence from the somewhat awkwardly-named season-opening Big Day Prep Showdown — I would have called it the Weekend of Awesome — Chelsea returned to hawk its winning wares at Eastern Michigan University’s Rynearson Stadium.  (What’s that?  No, Chelsea wasn’t scheduled to play EMU.  But now that you mention it…does anybody have Ron English’s phone number?)  Chelsea entered the game with a 2-1 record in the BDPS; on the other hand, Huron entered the game with a record of preventing Chelsea from playing in the BDPS in 2008.  But that was okay, because Chelsea also entered the game with a five-game winning streak against Huron dating to 1998, way back when Aerosmith didn’t want to miss a thing.

“I don’t know…this iPod seems a little bulky.”

He are serious Nick.  This is serious game.

As in 2008, the Chelsea/Huron pairing brought together two much-ballyhooed athletes to thrill fans and dismay defensive coordinators: Chelsea’s Nick Hill and Huron’s Jeremy Jackson.  The two have been conference rivals through high school, and that won’t change when they start college; Hill will play for Michigan State, and Jackson will play for Michigan.  Of course, that’s also where it gets confusing: Jackson wears Huron’s green, while Hill wears Chelsea’s blue.  Does that seem backwards?  Yes, it does.  But much to the delight of football fans everywhere — or at least those at Rynearson — they decided to play the game anyway.

Even opponents can’t help but admire Nick Hill’s muscles.

“Look!  It’s Ed Hochuli!”

Chelsea came into the game with high expectations for the season, but apparently somebody forgot to have high expectations for the beginning of the game: a simple miscalculation of the kickoff put the Bulldogs at their own one yard line to start their first drive.  It didn’t get any better when, on third down, the Huron pass rush caught up to Chelsea quarterback Brian Paulsen in his own end zone; not even two minutes into the game, Huron had a 2-0 lead that would be more at home at a baseball game.  Oh, and guess what?  Shortly after the safety, the River Rats quickly scored another touchdown to push their lead to 9-0 before Chelsea could even gain a first down.

Ouch…

Ouch…

And even more ouch.

The world grew a little brighter when the Chelsea offense put together a promising drive, but it fell short of points, and Huron responded with another quick touchdown.  With thirty seconds left in the first quarter, the River Rats had a 15-0 lead, and the Bulldogs had an incalculable lead in anxiety.  Unfortunately, anxiety doesn’t win football games, so head coach Brad Bush had to find a way to get his Bulldogs back into the game after a first quarter one analyst described as “uglier than a Pontiac Aztek.”  (This analyst may or may not be a figment of my imagination.)

Gravity holds no power over Dakota Cooley.

“Please, please, please let the running back through!”

Did the Bulldogs play Huron…or Geraldo?

Why do scrambling quarterbacks always look so suspicious of defensive linemen?

I didn’t eavesdrop on the conversation between the first and second quarters, so I don’t know what the coaches said, but it must have been good: Chelsea marched down the field and scored a touchdown (Paulsen).  The Bulldogs were on the board!  Hooray for points!  Chelsea fans celebrated the positive turn of events…for all of 13 seconds, which is how long it took the River Rats to run back the kickoff for a touchdown.  Huron fans celebrated their positive turn of events…for all of 11 seconds, which is how long it took Zak Giller to run the kickoff back to the Huron 11 yard line.  A touchdown (Hill) followed in short order — making for 20 points scored in less than two minutes — and Huron’s lead was cut to 21-14.  And Chelsea’s revival wasn’t done: after a very welcome stop by the Chelsea defense, Hill finished off another drive with another touchdown with his second touchdown of the day, and the extra point evened the score at 21.

Dakota Cooley is divisible by Spencer Mykala.

Zak Giller will not share with you.

“I told you: the football field is over there!”

Thanks to their rousing comeback in the second quarter, the Bulldogs were in a good mood after halftime.  But the Menace of the Odd-Numbered Quarters was not yet satisfied: Huron’s first drive of the second half ended with a 54-yard touchdown run that yet again left Chelsea playing catch-up.  Of course, with that pesky menace making life difficult, Chelsea didn’t play catch-up very well, so the Bulldogs managed to score exactly zero points in the third quarter.  But wait!  There’s good news, too!  Huron failed to score again, so the deficit was still at eight when the fourth quarter began.

When push comes to shove, Scott Devol comes to destroy.

Chelsea Bulldogs: always ready with a hug.

Since the fourth quarter is not an odd-numbered quarter, the Menace of the Odd-Numbered Quarters held no sway within its borders.  The Bulldogs didn’t wait long to take advantage of the menace’s absence: shortly after a 65-yard Chris Ballow run, Hill tallied his third touchdown of the game.  And finally, with under five minutes to play, Hill followed a Giller interception with his fourth touchdown to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game.  A missed extra point left some room for anxiety, but Huron’s last drive ended in futility, and Chelsea celebrated its season-opening 35-29 victory over the River Rats.

Odds & Ends

• Chelsea’s 2-1 BDPS record featured a split with Novi and a victory over Ypsilanti.  Obviously, now the record is 3-1, and it features a victory over Huron.
• How did the much-ballyhooed athletes perform?  Hill finished with 147 yards and four touchdowns on 36 carries; Jackson finished with 88 yards on 5 receptions.
• Since the Bulldogs seem to prefer even-numbered quarters, it might be a good idea to abolish all odd-numbered quarters.  Of course, to maintain the original length of the game, that means the team will play second, fourth, sixth and eighth quarters instead of first, second, third and fourth.  Is that a good idea?  No, that’s a great idea.
• Be sure to check out the full gallery of game photos.

Next Week
Chelsea faces the Trojans of Monroe; the game is in Monroe on Friday at 7PM.