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on November 13, 2015 10:41 PM, updated November 14, 2015 12:19 AM
Chelsea took control of the game early and never looked back as the Bulldogs defeated Allen Park, 35-12, in a Division 3 football regional final Friday night at Allen Park High School.
The win sends Chelsea (11-1) to the state semifinals for the first time in school history. The No. 9 ranked Bulldogs will meet No. 3 Coldwater in that game to decide who gets to play in the Division 3 final at Ford Field.
Chelsea opened the game strong, scoring on its opening drive, and it built a 14-0 lead at halftime thanks to rushing touchdowns from seniors Jacob Somodi and Jacob Grob.
The Bulldogs recovered the opening kickoff of the second half following a misplay by Allen Park and took advantage of the solid field position. Junior quarterback Jack Bush extended the Chelsea lead to 21-0 on the ensuing drive with a 3-yard touchdown run.
Bush also had success through the air in the second half as he connected with senior Jacob Scheese on a pair of touchdown passes to put Chelsea up 35-0 and trigger a running clock with 11:54 to play.
Allen Park scored twice on touchdown runs from senior Nate Berrelez and junior Antonio Mangiapane in the fourth quarter, but the Jaguars ran out of time. After recovering an onside kick, Chelsea was able to take a knee to run out the clock on a 35-12 victory.
Chelsea coach Brad Bush said the Bulldogs had never made the state semifinals previously because of a combination of bad draws and playing poorly at the wrong time. The Bulldogs had lost all five previous times they had reached the regional final.
“We’ve had so many teams in this spot, good teams, and we haven’t been able to get to the finals,” Bush said. “It was (losses to) Farmington Harrison, Inskter with Devin Gardner – I’m proud of just not these guys but all the guys that have played here because we finally have broken through.”
Jack Bush said the win felt good, but the team is still focused on its goal of winning a state title.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling, the first time in school history – something we dreamed about from the beginning,” Bush said. “Now we have to get one more to get to Ford Field.”
Bush threw for 264 yards and two touchdowns on 16-of-20 passing and added 11 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Grob led the Bulldogs with 74 yards rushing on five carries, which included his 66-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Scheese had four catches for 67 yards and two scores, while senior Bailey Edwards had five catches for 87 yards.
OAA Report 