By Brandon Sumrall | Special to the Advertiser
Senior night was not so sweet for Chilton County on Oct. 20 as the Chelsea Hornets picked up their first win of the season by knocking off the Tigers, 25-13.

A 3-yard run by Collier Blair on third and one at the 38, kept the Hornet’s first offensive drive alive, but it would be a 24-pass from Turner Griffin to Reid Burleson that moved the Hornets down inside the red zone.

One play later, Blair found pay dirt on a 6-yard touchdown run that put Chelsea up early, 7-0.

The Tigers started its ensuing possession at its own 20-yard line and picked up a quick first down on a 14-yard run by Shikeem Laister.

With Chilton County unable to come up with another first down, Chilton would choose to punt the ball away. However, a little luck bounced the Tigers way, as a muffed return was covered up by Cason Smith and set Chilton County up first and 10 at the Hornets 47.

A pair of first down pass plays from Laister to Justin Liveoak and Triston Schmidthorst followed by a Laister 16-yard run moved the Tigers down inside the Hornets five yard line.

One play later, Schmidthorst put the Tigers in the end zone, and with the PAT by Parker McCormick up and good, the score was tied at 7-all late in the first quarter.

Facing a third and two from their own forty-five yard line, Laister broke away from the Hornet defense and went 55 yards for a Tiger touchdown that put Chilton County out in front, 13-7.

The Hornets answered with a score of their own and capped a 63-yard drive with a 25-yard field goal from Tanner Middleton that made the score 13-10 in favor of the Tigers with 8:26 remaining in the first half.

Picking up a first down that moved the Hornets down to the 23, a 23-yard pass from Griffin to Christian Pruitt was good for a touchdown that gave Chelsea a 16-13 halftime lead.

The opening possession of the second half saw the Hornets set up at their own 46-yard line.

A first down run by Vick Lindsey moved Chelsea out across midfield, where a pair of first down runs by Blair and Simpson marched the Hornets down inside the Chilton County 20.

Facing a fourth and 3 at the 21, a 5-yard run by Griffin kept the drive alive and three plays later, Simpson found the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown run to put Chelsea out in front, 23-13.

A fumble recovery early in the fourth quarter gave the Tigers a scoring opportunity with a drive that started at the Chelsea 43, but four plays and out saw CCHS forced to punt back over to the Hornets.

An interception by Carson Smith with 1:21 to play gave the Tigers once last shot, but a first and 10 at their own 4 led to a safety.
Despite the rough season the Tigers have had, for head coach Tal Morrison it is a mission to keep fighting and keep building.

“They just have to keep fighting,” Morrison said. “I know right now people look at the record, but we are trying to set things up the right way and trying to teach these guys to keep fighting. They are working their butts off, they are coming out and practicing hard, and I thought we had a good week of practice this week. As far as the scoreboard, it just isn’t working out for us right now.”

Green led the Tiger passing attack with a 2 for 10 performance for 50
yards, while Laister led the ground game with 72 yards on 11 carries.