The Chelsea High football team played a solid game on both sides of the ball to earn a 22-14 victory over West Roxbury Friday evening
The Red Devils grabbed an early 2-0 lead thanks to a safety that was set up by the Chelsea defense. The Red Devils had taken the opening kickoff and drove from their own 40 to the West Roxbury 10. Although the CHS offense was stopped at that point, the Red Devil defense forced a three-and-out. West Roxbury then muffed the long snap on the punt, with the ball bounding out of the end zone for a 2-0 Chelsea advantage.
The Red Devils got the ball right back on the ensuing W. Roxbury free kick and this time made the most of the scoring opportunity. Chelsea took over at the W. Roxbury 45 and covered that distance to the end zone in just five plays, the capper coming on a 22 yard burst to paydirt by . junior running back Yvad Rosado. A successful PAT kick by Jeffrey Mejia put matters at 9-0 in the Red Devils’ favor.
The offensive fireworks in the first quarter were not finished. The Chelsea defense suffered what would prove to be its only serious lapse of the contest, allowing a 75 yard TD pass on a third-and-15 on the ensuing W. Roxbury possession that sliced the Chelsea margin to 9-6 at the quarter’s end.
The second period saw Chelsea launch a pair of drives that took the Red Devils into the West Roxbury red zone, but on both occasions the Red Devils came up empty-handed. Even worse, with about 2:00 to go in the half, a Chelsea fumble at midfield was scooped up by a West Roxbury defender, who rambled all the way to the endzone to leave matters at 14-9 (after a successful two-point conversion) at the intermission.
The start of the third quarter saw the Chelsea defense continue to play hard-nosed football, forcing West Roxbury to punt on its first possession. Junior Nate Budwah then provided the spark that ignited the CHS push to victory when he ran back the punt 63 yards for a touchdown to boost Chelsea back into the lead, 15-14.
The Chelsea “D” continued to stifle the W. Roxbury offense, forcing another West Roxbury punt from deep in its own territory. The Red Devils got good field position and, starting at their own 40, drove in for the score. The TD came on a clutch fourth-and-14 pass play from CHS junior quarterback Mark Anthony Williams to Nelson Vega. A successful Mejia boot for the PAT made it 22-14 in favor of the Red Devils, which is where matters remained until the final whistle.
“The defense played one of their better overall games this year,” said CHS head coach Mike Stellato, who noted in particular the stellar performances of Christian Calix, Nelson Vega, Jomeal DeJesus, Josue Tehosmy, and Adrial Rodriguez. The coach also lauded the offensive play of Yvad Rosado and Francisco Mercedes.
The Red Devils now will play at Matignon High on Thanksgiving Day. Kickoff time is 10:00 a,m,