Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

CHELSEA – The Chelsea Hornets started the 2025 boys soccer season with a bang as they dominated the Mortimer Jordan Blue Devils on the opening night of the new campaign.

Chelsea marked its return to Class 6A with a 10-0 win over Mortimer Jordan on Thursday, Feb. 6 at Chelsea High School.

Max Wever kicked off the scoring with a goal to cap off a build-up effort by multiple Hornets, including Shon McKinney, who secured the assist to put the Blue Devils up 1-0.

Three minutes later, the officials called a deliberate handball on Mortimer Jordan and handed out a straight red card and a penalty to the Hornets. Parker Dean missed the initial penalty kick but came through on the rebound to make the lead 2-0.

Dean wasted little time securing his brace as he scored just six minutes later off an assist by Daniel Teixeira.

Teixeira then joined the scoring party with a goal of his own, increasing the lead to 4-0 just four minutes after Dean’s second of the night.

Shon McKinney added to his assist on the opening goal with the final goal of the half as Chelsea went into the halftime break with a 5-0 lead.

The Hornets’ offensive and defensive dominance continued after the break as they used their man-advantage to keep snowballing goals.

After making their varsity debut following the fourth goal of the game, Xavi Rosales and Israel Rodriguez made their first matches on the senior side count, earning the next two goals for their first varsity scores while making it a 7-0 game.

Madden Brown made a crucial save to preserve the clean sheet, and Reed Hinson and Campbell Jenkins followed that up with a goal apiece to take the lead to 9-0 and put Chelsea on the cusp of victory.

Marcus Garcia finished off the job with the final goal of the game to end the 10-0 contest in the Hornets’ favor.

In addition to Rosales, Aldo Castanon made his varsity team debut as the scoreline widened. CJ Durbin also made his first varsity appearance in goal as he combined with Brown and William Purkey to earn the shutout.

The Hornets will welcome the Gadsden City Titans on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 4 p.m. at Chelsea High School ahead of their run in the Lakeshore Shootout.