By By Todd Thompson, Hartselle Enquirer
HARTSELLE - The host wasn’t very hospitable in Wade Waldrop’s homecoming.
Hartselle flexed its muscle early and spoiled Waldrop’s return to J.P. Cain Stadium Friday with a 29-13 victory over Chelsea that was never really as close as the final score.
Marquez Jones rushed for two first half touchdowns and the Hartselle defense put together a solid effort in the win in the season opener for both schools.
Hartselle dominated the game with 415 yards of total offense in the win, with 256 yards coming on the ground.
Chelsea’s defense surrendered 22 unanswered points in the first half as Hartselle took a commanding lead early.
The Tigers took advantage of its full preseason game against Austin a week early to get some game experience. Chelsea, who played its starters for just a little more than a quarter in a preseason game with Childersburg, struggled in the heat against the Tigers.
Jones, who finished with 128 yards on the ground on 29 carries, scored on a pair of 1-yard runs in the first half to get Hartselle off to a 14-0 advantage.
The Tigers added to the lead with the help of a Chelsea special teams miscue late in the half. A snap went high over the head of the Hornets’ John Calhoun deep in Chelsea territory and the punter kicked the ball out of the end zone for a safety.
Hartselle closed out the first half with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Will Lang to Darrell Dye with 15 seconds remaining to push the margin to 22-0.
Hartselle completed 15 of 22 pass attempts for 159 yards with senior Luke Bole handling a majority of the snaps. Will Lang, a sophomore, also played in several series and threw a touchdown pass.
But it was Hartselle’s defense that stood tall on opening night. Chelsea broke one long touchdown pass and had just one other scoring drive in the game.
Chelsea dampened a stellar outing from Hartselle’s defensive unit when Blake Yance teammed up with Blake Woo, who had slipped alone in the secondary and hauled in the pass and went 67 yards untouched for the score.
Josh Slaten scored Hartselle’s final touchdown on a 5-yard run.
Yance threw for another touchdown in the closing seconds of the game when he connected with Garrett Salter on a 5-yard touchdown to trim the final margin to 29-13.
Hartselle will now face Region 8 foe J.O. Johnson Thursday on the road.