Chelsea traveled to Adrian to take on the Maples.

The evening didn’t start well for me: when I arrived, I realized I’d left all my memory cards at home in Chelsea, about 45 minutes away. My dad (generously) offered to scour Adrian for a memory card or two to get me through the evening, so I just watched pregame warmups and hoped he’d be successful.

He wasn’t back with cards when the game started, but that was okay: the game didn’t start any better for Chelsea than the evening had started for me. Chelsea fumbled the first snap and Adrian took it back for a touchdown and a quick 7-0 lead. Then, to my great relief, my dad showed up with a couple cards (having had to visit four different stores to find them!), and I got to work.

The Bulldogs got it together after that disastrous first snap and built a healthy 24-7 lead by the end of the half.

This interception was a good moment…

…in a half that had few good moments for Chelsea. Turnovers provided Adrian either with points or with an easier path to points, Chelsea’s offense ground to a halt, and the Maples slowly chipped away at the Bulldogs’ lead.

Jacob had his helmet ripped off at the end of one play…

…and he did not care for the officials’ decision not to call a penalty.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Adrian took a 27-24 lead. The Chelsea offense responded with a long, methodical drive, much of which seemed to consist of runs to the left like this one.

Eventually the offense was within field goal range, but there was still time to push for the end zone. Optimism was high when Chelsea had second and goal from the two, but a false start pushed the Bulldogs back, and the drive stalled.

(There are three coaches visible in that photo, and they’re all striking the same pose! Coaches gonna coach.)

The field goal unit took the field…

…and tied the game at 27 with under a minute to play. Adrian knelt to run out the clock, and the game went to overtime — Chelsea’s second overtime game of the year.

Chelsea won the toss and gave Adrian the ball first, and the Maples found the end zone. Chelsea had one possession to match Adrian’s touchdown.

Like so much else on Friday, it didn’t start well. First down…

…was a seven-yard sack. That was followed by a false start and an incomplete pass, leaving Chelsea looking at third and goal from the 22. Justice Staton dropped back, rolled left to avoid pressure, and launched the ball into the end zone…

…where Noah van Reesema came down with the ball, pulling it away from a defender for the improbable touchdown. The extra point once again tied the game, and Chelsea started the second overtime with the ball. On first down…

…Kenny McDowell’s touchdown put the Bulldogs ahead, and Adrian had one possession to score. The Maples had third and goal at the one, but their third- and fourth-down passes to the corner of the end zone fell incomplete, and the Bulldogs began celebrating their 41-34 2OT victory!

The 4-1 Bulldogs will be back in action this Friday at 7pm against Lincoln. This next part is VERY important, so pay attention: due to an incident that has made Lincoln’s stadium unavailable, the game will be at Ann Arbor Pioneer. Again, Chelsea will be playing Lincoln on Friday at 7pm at Ann Arbor Pioneer.