Bulldogs Get by Stingy St Joseph

With the post-season looming, the undefeated Chelsea football team got its first real test of the season Friday night as a stingy St. Joseph team came to town and gave the Bulldogs all they could handle in a 24-14 win.

The Bears outgained Chelsea 366-294 with a grind it out ground game that rushed for 312 yards on 68 attempts and only attempted four passes on the night.

Chelsea used a more balanced attack with 129 yards rushing on 32 carries and Lucas Dunn was 12 of 18 passing for 165 yards and two scores.

After Chelsea turned the ball over on downs after the opening kick, St Joe drove 64 yards and scored on a 11-yard TD run for a 7-0 lead.

The Bulldogs would answer with a 45-yard drive that was capped off with an 9-yard TD pass from Dunn to Cole Munson to tie the game at 7-7.

St Joseph missed on a 37-yard field goal attempt and the Bulldogs would drive 80 yards and score when Dunn hit Lucas Hanifan with a 49-yard touchdown pass to take a 14-7 lead early in the second.

After a Bears punt Hunter Shaw would nail a 26-yard field goal to extend the Bulldogs lead to 17-7.

St. Joseph then drove 72 yards to the Bulldogs two-yard line, but Liam Conti recovered a Bears fumble with just six seconds remaining in the half to keep the 17-7 lead for Chelsea.

The Bears took the opening kickoff of the second half and held the ball for over eight minutes and again missed on a field goal attempt when it hit the upright and bounced away to keep it 17-7.

Following a Bulldog punt, St. Joe made things interesting when they scored on a one yard run to cut the lead to 17-14 with 8:54 left.

The Bulldogs would answer with a nine play 67-yard drive that was capped off by an 11-yard TD run by Munson to make it 24-14.

The Bears would have one more chance and drove to the Bulldogs 29 before turning the ball over on down and sealing the Chelsea win.

Trent Hill led the Bulldogs rushing attack with 93 yards on 24 carries, while Munson rushed for 18 yards on four carries and a TD and caught three passes for 20 yards and a score.

Hanifan caught five passes for 121 yards and a TD, while Nick Fisk caught three passes for 15 yards.

Nolan Sinkwitts led the defense with eight solo tackles and three assists, Diego Medel had eight solo and two assists, and Carson Gray nine solo tackles on the night.

Chelsea will travel to Dexter Friday night for a huge game against the arch-rival Dreadnaughts.