Chambers Academy Rebels roll in round one
BY KATIE MCELVY
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LAFAYETTE — Chambers Academy opened up the playoffs on Friday with an 80-yard quarterback keeper by Hunter Andrews on the first play from scrimmage to score a touchdown on the Rebel’s opening drive as they hosted Fort Dale to give Chambers a quick 6-0 lead.
Eli Whorton and Drew Sheppard got a tackle for a loss to force a three-and-out for the Eagles on their first series. Bryce Modling returned the punt to the 47-yard line to set up a 53-yard touchdown pass from Andrews to Whorton. Andrews ran in the two point conversion to put Chambers up 14-0.
Chambers fumbled on their next possession, but Gabe Bridges batted down a pass and Modling recorded an interception to give the Rebels back the ball. Unfortunately, the offensive drive stalled, and the Eagles forced a turnover on downs.
Troy Elliott quickly flipped the script of the game, getting an interception on Fort Dale’s first play of the next series. The Rebels capitalized with Colton Fuller taking the ball all the way to the 1-yard line to set up the next Rebel touchdown. Jack Nelms scored the 2 point conversion to put Chambers up 22-0 to start the second quarter.
The Eagles got some momentum on their next drive with a 60-yard touchdown pass to make the score 22-6.
Peyton Yerta answered with a 74-yard touchdown run to increase the Chambers lead 28-6.
Trey Tigner brought in the next interception and returned the ball all the way to the Fort Dale 27. Whorton punched in the touchdown, and Nelms added the two points.
Fort Dale scored again before the end of the half to make the score 36-14.
Andrews had three big runs on Chambers’ first drive of the second half with Whorton scoring the touchdown and Nelms adding two.
Spencer Newman batted down a pass to force a turnover on downs, but a fumbled snap by Chambers gave the ball back to the Eagles. Fort Dale posted another touchdown pass to cut the Rebel lead 44-21.
Nelms scored the last touchdown of the game to make the final 50-21.
“Our team is on a mission, and Friday’s win was an important first step,” said head coach Jason Allen. “We got off to a great start, but to Fort Dale’s credit, they continued to play hard and made our guys earn it. It was big to get a lot of production out of our QB run game. Fort Dale was taking away our strong side runs, so we had to utilize our counter game, and the QB plays a lot into that plan.”
Andrews was six for eight through the air for 117 yards and three touchdowns. Whorton was the top receiver with 78 yards on four catches, followed by Cobie Whatley with 31 yards on a single catch.
Andrews also led on the ground with 213 yards on 10 carries. He was followed by Nelms with 69 yards on eight carries.
Defensively, Colton Fuller and Bryce Modling led the way with nine tackles each, followed by Jacob Bradley and Kent Nelson with seven tackles each.
Chambers will face a tough 7-4 Southern team in the second round.
“Southern is a well coached team that will come in and try to be physical and run the ball right at us,” Allen said. “They run the single wing so our kids are going to have to be disciplined with their eyes and ready for a ton of misdirection.”
Chambers will host Southern Academy on Thursday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Torbert-Allen Field.
“Our kids will be excited about the opportunity to play their last game at home with a chance to advance to the state championship,” Allen said.
