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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

CHELSEA – With the tension and pressure building in a scoreless double-overtime rivalry game, the Chelsea Hornets’ Marcus Garcia stepped to the free kick spot prepared to take one of the biggest set pieces of his high school career.

Forced into the role of free-kick taker as the Hornets’ only other left-footed player was sidelined with a cramp, Garcia looked to his coach Lee Miller to see whether to cross or shoot it. Miller gave him the nod to take it direct.

That’s when the thoughts started running through Garcia’s head.

“I’ve got to score this,” he thought. “I’ve got to.”

Facing a wall of Pelham Panthers players on the left side and only their keeper Jeffery Palacios on the near post, Garcia took a step to the left, and after taking his time, he fired a curling shot over the wall straight toward the right post.

That’s when those thoughts started to change.

“There’s no way,” he thought.

Garcia’s doubt turned to belief as the ball sailed into the back of the net and his teammates ran up to him to celebrate Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Pelham on Thursday, March 20 at Chelsea High School.

“It feels amazing, honestly, to step up for people who have been injured, been playing around,” Garcia said after the postgame celebration. “It’s just an amazing feeling.”

Miller was proud of Garcia for stepping up in the moment in a game where the result hung in the balance.

“It could have gone either way, and it comes down in a situation like that to a moment, and we had the perfect set up for a free kick,” Miller said. “Our regular free kick taker happened to be off the field at the moment with a cramp, and the only left-footed kid on the team was Marcus Garcia, and he stepped up and absolutely buried it. So, huge moment.”

Even with it being a crucial area win to move to 2-1 in the Class 6A, Area 8 table, the victory meant even more for the Hornets as they got to reclaim the Shelby Derby trophy after a year without it.

As the Chelsea players ran to the fence to grab and hoist the trophy, it was clear that this was more than just another win for them.

“We know these guys so well,” Miller said. “They’ve been our rival for a long time. We go to camp together in the summer, team camp that we do, and so we play each other in the summertime and offseason. Some of them play club together. It’s like battling your brother, and obviously that’s sweeter to win than beating a stranger. So, we’re super happy to get it.”

The Hornets went to work early in the third minute when a free kick sent a dangerous ball right in front of the net.

That kicked off a stretch where Chelsea pressed the attack with frequent forward possessions. Parker Dean highlighted the Hornets’ chances during that time by being active on the right wing while inverted from his typical left side position.

Shon McKinney then kicked off a rapid-fire series of chances with a missed shot off a run in the 13th minute. Dean’s shot a minute later got deflected before he came up short on a one-on-one chance with Pelham keeper Jeffery Palacios in the 17th minute.

Pelham’s Orlando Garcia Avalos nearly flipped the momentum on its head in the 19th minute when he tested the Chelsea defense with a shot, but Andrew Purkey dove to save the ball and preserve the goalless tie.

The Hornets then had two of the better chances to end the half, including a missed shot from Dean and a 33rd-minute cross from Cooper Baumbaugh to Dean that just went past him.

That left the teams tied at 0-0 heading into the halftime break after the hosts’ quality efforts did not lead to the opening goal.

“I thought we played really well in the first half,” Miller said. “It looked like the goal was coming. Give Pelham credit, it didn’t come.”

Chelsea opened the second half with a couple of missed chances, but the Panthers started to even up the possession battle throughout the half. Pelham’s 46th-minute counterattack was the highlight of the first 10 minutes for the visitors after it generated a shot.

Baumbaugh nearly broke open the game in the 51st minute after he forced a diving near-post save from Palacios, and Brennan Carmack also managed a shot on the ensuing corner kick.

Pelham then had the next two best chances with a cross across the goal that went wanting in the 54th minute before a 58th-minute free kick just missed the feet of the Panthers attackers.

A minute after that set piece, Luke Miller unlocked Chelsea’s offense with a cross and generated a strong run from Max Wever. The striker got off a near-post shot but couldn’t convert.

With about 15 minutes to go, the Hornets got multiple free kick chances that ultimately did not generate the go-ahead goal.

That led to a frantic final 10 minutes of end-to-end play as both sides sought a goal but neither got one, sending the rivals to overtime tied at 0-0.

The first overtime was highlighted by a missed chip shot from Pelham in the 82nd minute, and that proved to be their last major threat of the game.

That was because a Panthers yellow card on the break gave Chelsea a free kick in the 86th minute, which Garcia used to send home the golden goal to take the derby win on a direct free kick.

While both teams had strong efforts on the defensive end, Daniel Teixeira was especially effective for the Hornets with six tackles won and five interceptions over the course of the clean sheet.

To Garcia, that effort was emblematic of the fight and effort that the Hornets had to win the Shelby Derby trophy.

“The whole team was just fighting really hard and we’ve gone this far, we haven’t been playing really well and this trophy means a lot to us,” Garcia said. “Like coach was just saying, it felt weird not having the trophy in this room anymore. He had to take it down, and that motivation to keep it there is just kept the team going, and in the end, it worked. Championship teams always find a way to win. That’s what coach says, and indeed we did find a way.”

The Hornets found a way again just one night later with another 1-0 win, this time against Douglas on Friday, March 21 off a first-half goal from Wever. It’s those moments that Miller hopes to carry over after spring break, when Chelsea will look to improve on its 13-2 record and 2-1 mark in area play with a brutal area slate to come.

“We know we’ve got to turn around and go to Pelham in April and that’s going to be extremely difficult,” Miller said. “Obviously Briarwood is going to be tough to beat, and even Spain Park is going to be very tough to be because it took a shootout to beat them the first time. So, this area is insane. It’s a crying shame that two teams in this group are going to miss out on playoffs, which shouldn’t happen.”

The No. 2 Hornets will be back in action on Tuesday, April 1 at 6:30 p.m. when they face 1A-3A No. 3 Susan Moore on the road. As for No. 8 Pelham, it dropped to 10-3-2 overall and 1-2 in area play with the loss and will return to the pitch on Tuesday, April 1 at 7 p.m. for a home match against No. 10 Gardendale.