The Chelsea Standard
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Season opener! Chelsea tops Novi using trick play
Balanced Bulldog attack too much for Wildcats
By Don Richter, Sports Editor
PUBLISHED: August 31, 2006
Who says women don't know anything about football?
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Certainly not Chelsea head football coach Brad Bush.
Behind encouragement from his wife, Laura, Bush called a reverse pass early in the first quarter of last Saturday's season opening game against Novi at Eastern Michigan University's Rynearson Stadium. The play went for a touchdown, sparking the Bulldogs to a 28-14 victory in the final game of the Big Day Prep Showdown II.
The reverse pass play took the Wildcats by surprise.
"It was completely out of character," Bush said. "I started to call it (play) and checked myself. But my wife says I don't call any fake punts or trick plays. But we had that play ready and I felt good about it.
"I told the guys yesterday that we were going to run it. We script our plays, the first five plays of the game, and we ran them exactly in order and it (reverse pass play) was right there. We ran it well."
The touchdown play came four plays into the opening drive of the game. Senior quarterback Jon Seelbach took the snap and appeared headed around left end. Just before turning up the field, he flipped the ball to senior receiver Nate Schwarze, who was headed in the opposite direction.
With Novi defenders bumping into each other trying to recover, Schwarze lofted a perfect spiral to senior halfback Antwan McClendon, who caught the ball in stride after sneaking behind the Wildcat secondary. The 53-yard TD strike brought the Chelsea crowd to its feet in celebration.
Senior Dan Rhodes kicked the extra point and the Bulldogs led 7-0 with 10:45 remaining in the first quarter.
"I was wide open," McClendon said. "I was so excited. I was waiting for the pass."
Seelbach said he was confidant the play would work.
"Nate has a good arm," he said. "We executed well. Antwan got out and made the play."
Novi answered with a 15-play, nine-minute drive that ended in a missed 38-yard field goal attempt by Wildcat senior Pat Sijan.
After both teams exchanged numerous punts, Chelsea began the final drive of the first half at its own 35-yard line with 1:35 remaining on the clock.
On the drive's third play, freshman halfback Nick Hill exploded down the left sideline on a 45-yard draw play down to Novi's 14-yard line.
Three plays later, McClendon scored on a 3-yard reverse, running untouched into the end zone, with 34 seconds left in the first half. With Rhodes' point-after touchdown kick, the Bulldogs entered the locker room with a 14-0 lead.
Bush said the touchdown at the end of the first half was key for Chelsea.
"The ability to drive the ball at the end of the first half and get that score was just critical," he said. "That put us in good position. Two scores is a whole lot different than one score."
The Bulldogs would find that out early in the third quarter as Novi needed only five plays to score. Senior quarterback/receiver Brandon Carnegie hit pay dirt on a wild 19-yard touchdown run. On the TD play, Carnegie, who's being recruited by numerous Division I schools, started one way with the football before reversing his field and outrunning Chelsea defenders to the end zone for the score.
"The play Brandon Carnegie made was something," Bush said. "He's a great player. Two years in a row, he made a play in the game where we had him and he scored on his own."
Last year, in the same area of the field, Carnegie scored on a similar impromptu reverse play, helping Novi win 14-7.
This time, however, Carnegie's gridiron magic wouldn't be enough for the Wildcats.
After a Chelsea punt, Novi appeared to be driving for a game-tying score, when Bulldog junior linebacker Stu Mann tackled Carnegie, forcing a fumble. Mann recovered the fumble, giving the Bulldogs possession at their own 18-yard line.
Ten plays and three minutes later, Chelsea tight end Dan Augustine (6-2, 215) hauled in an 8-yard touchdown pass from Seelbach. Rhodes' extra point was good, giving the Bulldogs a 21-7 advantage with 45 seconds left in the third quarter.
On its first drive of the fourth quarter, Chelsea took a 28-7 lead as senior receiver Adam Connell caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Seelbach in the right corner of the end zone. Rhodes split the uprights on the point-after kick.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Wildcats' Stefan Figurski ran the ball back 86 yards for a touchdown. Sijan's PAT was good trimming the Bulldogs' lead to 28-14 with 7:54 left in the game.
It was as close as Novi would get, however.
Interceptions by Chelsea defensive backs Jeff Adams and Rhodes on the Wildcats' next two possessions squelched potential scoring drives. Novi's final drive ended in a Carnegie fumble that was recovered by the Bulldogs at their own 12-yard line, ending the contest.
Seelbach finished the game 9-of-15 passing for 129 yards and two touchdowns. The Wildcats' Mark Heard ended up 4-of-8 for 93 yards with one interception.
Hill led the ground game with 52 yards on five attempts. Chris Tapping added 31 yards on 10 tries, while Connell had 27 yards on five rushes. Carnegie was tops for Novi with 75 yards on 17 carries. R.J. Gordon added 60 yards on 11 attempts.
Schwarze finished with five catches for 88 yards to pace Chelsea. Hill had two receptions for eight yards. Mike Slack had two catches for 44 yards for the Wildcats.
Defensively, lineman Jessie Stewart ended up with 10 tackles to lead the Bulldogs. Rhodes added six stops for Chelsea. Linebacker Mike Kolis had 10 tackles for Novi.
As a team, the Bulldogs accumulated 297 yards of total offense, including 182 yards through the air. Novi ended up with 276 total yards, with 183 yards on the ground.
Chelsea had three penalties for 15 yards, while the Wildcats had seven penalties for 47 yards.
"We have to get our kids coached up," said Novi coach Tab Kellepourey. "We have to give them an opportunity to be successful. They're going to play hard for us. We (coaches) have got to make sure we have them lined up in the right positions so they can play.
"We need to have confidence. There were a few players who were on the varsity field for the first time."
The Wildcats' first-string quarterback, Adam Chandler, was on the sidelines in street clothes the entire game. Carnegie was the backup, while Heard was the third-string signal-caller.
"Adam got hurt early in the (pre) season for us," Kellepourey said. "At times, we were down to our third-string quarterback."
Kellepourey said Carnegie, a highly recruited receiver, had only practiced in pads for a week before the season opener.
"You saw a kid tonight that has only had four or five practices in shoulder pads," he said. "I told him we were glad to have him back, and that he was our starting quarterback. He accepted the role. He knew the team needed it."
Bush said he was happy with his squad's overall effort.
"I was pleased," he said. "I thought for a first game we were fairly error free. They (Novi) had some long drives and we were able to stiffen in the red zone.
"Obviously we gave up a kickoff return (for a touchdown), which is disappointing. But we have a lot of experience and a lot of veterans. Our goals are very high. There's a lot of football left to play."
JV Football
Chelsea's JV football team defeated host Novi 14-6 last Thursday.
The game was called at halftime because of lightning.
Scoring for the Bulldogs in the first quarter was Brett Everding on a 5-yard pass from quarterback Randy Cox. The play was set up by a Chelsea botched field goal attempt.
"We've practiced what to do if we get a bad snap on a field goal and it happened," said Chelsea coach Chris Orlandi. "Riley Feeney reacted by getting open and Randy (Cox) found a way to flip him the ball on a fourth-and-eight play. Riley got the first down and we punched it in from there."
The Wildcats answered with a touchdown early in the second quarter. The extra point kick was missed, giving Chelsea a 7-6 lead.
Michael Cooper scored for the Bulldogs later in the second quarter on a 5-yard run for the game's final margin.
Michael Roberts connected on both extra points for Chelsea.
Defensively, linebacker Kevin Rosentreter was a standout for Chelsea. Also playing well for the Bulldogs were Tyler Fischaber, Chad Schiller and Scott Rhodes.
"I think our linebacking corps is excellent," Orlandi said. "We'll need the defensive line and defensive backs to match the linebackers' intensity if this is going to be a great defense."
Offensively, Cox finished 8-of-13 for 50 yards passing. Feeney had 64 yards rushing on 11 carries, while Everding had one catch for five yards for the Bulldogs.
Chelsea next hosts Temperance Bedford 7 p.m. Thursday.
"Bedford has beaten us twice in the last three years, so this will be a good challenge," Orlandi said. "They're always very physical. It'll be fun to see how we match up."
Freshman Football
Chelsea's freshman football team lost to host Novi 34-14 last Thursday.
Scoring for the Bulldogs was Scott Devol on a 50-yard pass from quarterback Dakota Cooley, who also scored on a 5-yard run.
Jeff Minzey ran in a two-point conversion for Chelsea.
Defensively, Evan Grau and Minzey led the way with eight tackles apiece.
"We did a lot of positive things, but we have a lot of work to do," said Chelsea coach Dennis Strzyzewski. "This group will keep working and as the year goes by they will see the difference."
Chelsea next hosts Temperance Bedford 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
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