CHAT wins tourney title
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Selma CHAT Academy coach Richard Gosa stood on the sidelines Tuesday night, dripping wet from the celebratory cooler of water poured on him by his players.
The Bulldogs’ coach, shocked from the ice cold water that had covered his torso, at first looked angry for what his players had done to him. But then he began to slowly crack a smile as he realized just what this game meant.
The Bulldogs’ defense put up its strongest stance of the season and the Selma CHAT running game ran the Bulldogs to a 12-0 win over the Tipton Blue Devils in the Middle School Football championship at Memorial Stadium.
“We’ve had a strong running game all season,” Gosa said just before his players dumped the water on his back. “We had to have a good running game because we’ve had a lot of problems with our pass blocking assignments.”
That problem turned out to be more of a blessing for Selma CHAT. Behind a strong blocking performance by the offensive line, the Bulldogs ran for a pair of touchdowns en route to the victory.
The Bulldogs’ defense also played a major role in the victory, coming up with two fumble recoveries and an interception.
“Our defense is awesome,” Gosa said. “Those guys are just plain tough.”
It was the defense that helped set up the first touchdown, as the Bulldogs ran down Tipton running back Kachavious Hurry and hurried quarterback Xavier Mack on the Blue Devils’ opening drive.
Selma CHAT running back Torrence Wright took it from there, sprinting around the left side of the Tipton defense. Wright ran for 38 yards to the Tipton 23, then 17 more to the 6.
Fullback Keith Gordon took it from there, plowing in for the touchdown on the next play to make it 6-0 with 2:23 left in the opening period.
On the ensuing kickoff, Selma CHAT’s Collin Barley stripped the ball from a Blue Devils’ returner and Howard Hodges recovered the loose ball at the Tipton 15.
While the Bulldogs were unable to cash in on the turnovers, the play was indicative of the pressure experienced throughout the game by the Blue Devils.
Selma CHAT finally scored again in the third period when Wright too the handoff and ran around the left end for a 15-yard touchdown run with 3:39 left in the period. Wright’s touchdown was set up by quarterback Darius Smith’s 40-yard toss to tailback Jacoby Carter at the Tipton 26.
The Blue Devils saw their two final scoring chances end with an interception by Bulldogs’ defensive back Jacoby Adams and a fumble recovery by Brandon Nelson at the Tipton 43.