By WESLEY HALLMAN / Sports Editor

COLUMBIANA — Chelsea High School senior Jake Ganus has been practically unstoppable through his first three games this season.

Following back-to-back rushing performances of better than 100 yards, Ganus broke out for 264 rushing yards and two touchdowns Sept. 9 while leading the Hornets to a 48-28 win over rival Shelby County at Papa McCombs Stadium.

The starting quarterback had one simple explanation and dished out a ton of praise as he deflected the spotlight following the Hornets’ first victory on the road in Columbiana since 1998.

“My offensive line is one of the most underrated in the state,” said Ganus, who finished with 18 carries. “They make me look good.”

Junior running back Julius McCall seemingly broke the 200-yard mark as well, but several holding penalties on long runs limited him to 110 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries. Chelsea racked up 448 rushing yards in the victory.

“Our offensive line and receivers blocked great,” McCall said.

Shelby County displayed its usual power rushing game with senior Denzel Williams rushing for 101 yards on 20 carries. Williams also returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.

“Unbelievable effort,” said Shelby County coach Ryan Herring. “I’m glad I’m his coach.”

The Wildcats also added a twist to the offense with sophomore quarterback Ty Proctor tossing three touchdowns.

Shelby County coach Ryan Herring was pleased with his offense, but said the Wildcats needed work on the defensive side of the ball.

“We’ve got to find some guys who can run and hit,” Herring said. “We got a lot better on offense from last week to this week.”

The Hornets (3-0 overall, 2-0 in Class 5A, Region 5) took a  7-0 lead just three minutes into the game following an 11-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Aki Coles. Sophomore Taylor Martindale added the extra point following the score, which capped a five-play, 80-yard opening drive.

Chelsea pushed its lead to 14-0 following a 70-yard rushing touchdown by Ganus and an extra point by Martindale with 2:12 left in the opening quarter. Shelby County (0-3 overall, 0-2 in Class 5A, Region 5) cut the lead to 14-6 following a 6-yard touchdown pass from Proctor to senior Evan McNeal.

The Hornets padded their lead midway through the second quarter following a 22-yard touchdown run by McCall and an extra point by Martindale, which gave Chelsea a 21-6 lead, with 5:54 remaining in the first half.

Shelby County tried to punch it in in the final minute of the first half, but the Chelsea defense kept the Wildcats out of the end zone on a fourth-and-goal play from the 1-yard line.

The Wildcats did cut into the lead after scoring on their opening drive of the second half. Proctor found McNeal open for a 52-yard touchdown, which capped a three-play, 52-yard scoring drive, less than two minutes into the third quarter to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 21-14 following a successful run for the two-point conversion by Marterius McGregor.

Ganus responded with a 9-yard touchdown three plays later and Martindale added the extra point to give the Hornets a 28-14 lead with 9:43 left in the third quarter.

Ganus threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to McCall to push the Hornets lead to 35-14 with 3:30 left in the third quarter following an extra point by Martindale. McCall scored his final touchdown on a 3-yard run with 13 seconds remaining in the quarter to give Chelsea a 41-14 advantage.

Proctor connected with McNeal once again for a 42-yard touchdown four plays later to cut the Hornets’ lead to 41-20 early in the fourth quarter. Chelsea responded with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Ganus to senior Matthew Graben and Martindale added the extra point to push the lead back to 48-20.

Williams’ 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and Brent Wooley’s successful two-point conversion with 5:32 left in the game accounted for the final score.

Despite the loss, Williams said the Wildcats are further along than they were following a 33-0 loss to the Hornets in the third week of the season a year ago.

“We’re where we were in week five last year in week three this year,” Williams said. “We’ve got to pick it up on defense.”

Despite a rash of penalties, Chelsea coach Wade Waldrop couldn’t hide his pride in the Hornets after the win.

“I’m very proud of our kids,” Waldrop said. “We’ve brought a lot of good teams down here and gone home with tears in our eyes.”