The Chelsea High football team notched its first victory of the season in a big way with a 41-0 triumph over Trinity Catholic of Newton Friday evening under the lights at Chelsea Stadium in a non league encounter.
The Red Devils wasted little time in establishing their control of the contest, marching 60 yards in 10 plays, capped by an eight yard TD run by Juan Martinez. Juan also kicked the point after, his first of five successful PATs on the night.
The Chelsea offense went back to work in the second frame with another 60 yard drive. Raul Flores went in for the score from six yards out.
The Red Devils were back in business a few minutes later thanks to an interception by
Hector Rivera with 2:30 to play in the half that set up the Red Devils deep inside Trinity territory. Chelsea needed just took four plays to make it 21-0, with Rivera taking in the pigskin on a two yard burst.
Trinity began to pull out all the stops at the start of the second half, including a fake punt to keep a drive alive, but the Chelsea defense eventually took charge, stopping Trinity on a fourth and short at the Trinity 35. Rivera went on a 28 yard jaunt for his second TD of the game.
A punt by Trinity gave the Red Devils the ball back at the CHS 40. A seven play drive was capped by a 44 yard rumble by Martinez for his second run to paydirt. Juan’s successful PAT gave him 17 points on the night.
The CHS younger players took over from that point and added their icing to the CHS victory cake with Whitney Fantil scoring on a 16 yard run with 3:30 to play for the 41-0 finale.
“This was a nice turnaround for us from our first game,” said CHS head coach Mike Stellato, referring to his team’s loss in the season opener to Lynn Tech. “We played well on both sides of the ball,” added the coach, who lauded the defensive efforts of senior middle linebacker Kevin DeJesus and senior defensive back Anthony Arroyo. The coach also cited the fine play of Rony Gomez at tight end.
A glance at a few key stats revealed the extent of the CHS dominance on the ground: Flores rushed for 94 yards on six carries; Rivera gained 75 yards on five attempts; and Martinez picked up 75 yards on five tries.
The Red Devils, who now are 1-1 on the season, once again will play some Friday Night Lights, this time hosting Greater Lawrence at the Stadium. “We’re expecting a tough game and as always with Greater Lawrence, a physical one,” said Stellato, noting that Greater Lawrence is 2-0 with wins over Pope John and Cambridge.
Kick off time is 7:00.