Freshmen: d. by Bedford 0-29
JV: d by Bedford 15-38

Varsity 2008 record: 7-2 (6-2 SEC)

Since Bedford joined the SEC in 2002, Chelsea has never had a problem with the Kicking Mules; through 2007, the Bulldogs held a 6-0 record with an average margin of victory of almost 22 points.  In other words, Chelsea has never lost to Bedford, and aside from a 14-0 win in 2002, it hasn’t really been close.  This winning streak has been aided by Bedford’s string of losing seasons; the last winning record for the Kicking Mules was 5-4 in 2002.

Even in that light, this year’s game posed a new challenge: Chelsea was coming off a surprising loss to then 2-5 Tecumseh, and Bedford had put together a strong 5-3 record.  Furthermore, Chelsea already had a playoff berth guaranteed, while Bedford needed to beat the Bulldogs to ensure its first playoff appearance since 1990.  A Chelsea victory would secure an SEC championship and keep alive the hopes for a home playoff game, but leading experts agree: needing a win just to make the playoffs is mighty strong motivation.

The night was notable for one other reason: it was the first time all season that the weather was anything other than good.  Through eight weeks, the worst Friday night weather had been cloudy with some chance of rain at Saline (and it never did rain that evening, unless you count the downpour of Saline touchdowns); however, when Bedford came to town, so did the cloud perspiration.  It wasn’t a full rainstorm, but it was a heavy enough mist to get everything wet.

Chinstrap?  Aaron Gates doesn’t need no stinkin’ chinstrap.

Mike Baker thinks he can sneak past Adam Taylor.

Chelsea won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball, and Bedford started the game like a team that really, really wanted to win: the kickoff was a squibby little thing bouncing here and there, and it confused the Bulldogs just enough to give Bedford time to recover the ball.  And if that wasn’t irritating enough, the Kicking Mules proceeded to drive for a touchdown; they went for two — which, along with the strange kickoff, led to some suspicion that they, like Tecumseh, didn’t have a kicker — and took an early 8-0 lead.  But the Bulldogs wanted to win a little, too, and they matched Bedford’s touchdown drive with one of their own, capped by a 22-yard Nick Hill touchdown run.  Since Chelsea has a kicker, there was none of this going for two business, so Bedford still had the lead; however, it was only a one-point lead, and studies have shown that one-point leads are the leading cause of gray hair in football coaches.

Bedford, taking sympathy on its coach and his hair, moved right back down the field and scored another touchdown; this time, the two-point conversion — more evidence of a missing kicking game — failed, giving the Kicking Mules a more hair-friendly seven-point lead.  Chelsea, determined to continue the Festival of Offense, put together another drive and, on the first play of the second quarter, Hill took the ball in from the three.  The extra point tied the game at 14, and after four consecutive scoring drives, the defenses were wondering if they had been invited to the game.

George Clark and the Chelsea defense don’t mind a little rain.

Michael Roberts takes a hit from the Headless Mule.

It turns out the defenses had been invited, but only for a little while; after Bedford and Chelsea traded three and outs, Bedford put together a one and WOOOOO! with a 40-yard touchdown pass … but the addition stopped at six when the two-point conversion failed again.  After that outburst, the defenses rejoined the party; both teams got the ball before the half ended, but neither one managed to score — though Bedford got inside the 10 before an illegal block pushed the ball back to the 20 — and the half ended with the Kicking Mules leading 20-14.

Chad Schiller carries the ball like the Three Tenors carry a tune.

Nobody gets lonely in Chelsea.

As it had at the start of the game, Bedford started the second half like a team that really, really wanted to win: the Kicking Mules staged a thoroughly impressive 93-play drive that took eight and a half minutes off the clock and put eight more points on the scoreboard.  With just over three minutes to play in the third quarter, things were looking great for The Team From Almost But Not Quite Ohio and not so great for the Bulldogs … until Chelsea answered with its own one and WOOOOO! thanks to a 60-yard touchdown run by Hill.  As if that wasn’t enough, Bedford fumbled the ball away on its own 25, and Chelsea just kept giving the ball to Hill until he scored (four plays later) on a one-yard run.  The extra point gave Chelsea fourteen unanswered points in two minutes, and the game was tied with a minute left in the third quarter.

Bedford loves Nick Hill…

…And Nick Hill loves the end zone. (But not on the same play.)

As the fourth quarter began, the teams traded punts … but then the Kicking Mules started to give Chelsea very unpleasant flashbacks to Tecumseh’s eternal game-winning touchdown drive.  They gained yard after yard and first down after first down — even converting a fourth down — and with under a minute to play, they had first and goal at the 10.  The flashbacks to the previous week’s loss were becoming more intense, and another late loss was beginning to look likely; however, with time winding down, Bedford faced a fourth and goal at the one yard line, and all the suspicions about their kicking game were confirmed when the Mules took the “Kicking” off their moniker — if you have no apparent kicking game, can you be called the Kicking Mules? — and left the offense on the field to try once more for the game-winning touchdown instead of taking a chance at the shortest field goal possible.  But there was one problem: Bedford didn’t wait for the official to put the ball in play, and the resulting penalty pushed the Not Kicking But Going For It Mules back from the one to the six.  With all the nice safe short-yardage running plays off the menu, Bedford’s last chance at a win in regulation ended in an incomplete pass, and all the people said hello, overtime.

Chelsea won the coin toss and elected to win; however, the referee said that wasn’t a valid option, so Chelsea decided to make Bedford take the ball first.  The Mules picked up where they left off, running the ball three times and getting down to the two yard line; yet again, given the choice between a short field goal and a maybe-touchdown on fourth down, Bedford eschewed the more likely scoring opportunity — an atypical choice for the team going first in overtime — and once again became the Going For It Mules.  This time the play was a run, but it ended in much the same futility as the last play of regulation: the ballcarrier was stopped for no gain.

Is Chad Schiller excitable?  I can’t tell.

Since Bedford scored no points, the Bulldogs simply had to score something to win the game … and that’s exactly what they did.  On first down, Roberts handed the ball to Hill, and he made sure there would be no need for the Kicking Bulldogs by taking it in for the touchdown; with that touchdown — Hill’s fifth of the game — Chelsea escaped with a 34-28 win.

We’re happy!  Well, most of us, anyway.

Either he’s overjoyed or he’s desperately trying to escape.

It seems fewer Bulldogs want to go to Kilwin’s this week.

Leftovers:

• The end of the 2008 freshman football season marked the retirement of longtime Chelsea coach Bill Bainton; at halftime, Bainton was recognized for his 28 years of service to Chelsea football.
• Chelsea won the game despite being outdone in nearly every statistic, most notably total yardage (404 to 281) and first downs (22 to 11).
• Against Bedford, Nick Hill rushed for 236 yards and five touchdowns on 25 carries.  His season totals: 1,428 yards on 180 carries for an average of 7.9 yards per carry.  His per-game average is listed at 158.7, but that’s an average for nine games played; since Hill played only eight — he sat out the Northville game — his per-game average is actually 178.5.  When it comes to scoring, he had a total of 20 touchdowns: 19 rushing and one kickoff return.

Next week:
The playoffs begin!  In the first round, Chelsea faces the Big Reds of Milan; the game is in Chelsea on Friday at 7:00.