The Chelsea Pride Spartans fifth and sixth grade team was a big winner over Beverly, 25-13. The day was dominated by superb special teams play. Antoine Kelley Jr. returned a kickoff 51 yards for a touchdown and Mikhel Collins picked up a fumble and ran it back 54 yards for a touchdown.
Once again Francisco Roca was a rock on the offensive line while Andre Cheek took care of business on the defensive side of the ball.
Crusaders
The Chelsea Pride Crusaders third and fourth grade team earned its first-ever win, 13-7. The team went 0-9 last year and started this season 0-1.
Josh Vasquez had two touchdown runs of three and 51 yards. Jalen Isles-Smith dominated on both sides of the ball. Jacob Cetina had a big 13-yard run to spark the go-ahead touchdown. Adiel Mahmoud stepped in at center and made an immediate impact.
The team, under the direction of coach Luis Cetina, is now 1-1 and poised for a playoff run.
Titans
The Titans first and second grade team fell to Beverly, 20-0. Head coach Kenny Etienne has put together the best young hitters in the NEC. Henry Martinez, Roberto Velasquez III, and Izaiah Ramos put on a defensive clinic but it wasn’t enough to get the team its first win. Home cooking will be good for this team.
Gladiators
The Chelsea Pride Gladiators rolled to a 33-8 victory over Beverly.
Chelsea came out flat in the first quarter but the six team captains, Bryan Cedeno, Moises Casado, Kevin Rosado, Albert Alicea, Ely Lobo, and Damien Strait took it upon themselves to convene with the players and make adjustments for a better effort.
Casado had a key interception that led to the first touchdown, a 20-yard run by Rosado. Beverly’s running back, James Aaron (In my mind, one of the best pure football players in Massachusetts youth football,” said Chelsea coach Gary May III), helped rally his team.
But Chelsea controlled the rest of the game. Cedeno and Lobo led the defensive pressure. Cedeno made one of the most prolific plays a defensive player can male when he stripped Beverly’s running back of the football and scored a 60-yard touchdown.
“I’ve only seen that one other time in a football game – Qasim Ward versus Northeast Regional on the 1995 Chelsea High Super Bowl team,” said Mat.
The Chelsea offense, led by coordinator Victor Carrion, scored at will in the second half. Cedeno had one touchdown for 10 yards and scored on the conversion play. Cedeno finished with 95 hard-fought yards on 10 carries. Alicea had one TD pass for 30 yards to Casado, going 4-for-4 for 85 yards. Jonathn Vazquez scored on a 45-yard run to seal the victory.
“The team is growing together like a family,” said Gary May III. They have embraced each other and are becoming the most team-oriented group of kids this city has seen in years. They understand what the concept of team means. When these kids graduate this year, a special group will be playing for the high school.”
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