Bell rings emotional chord after Chester win over Chichester
CHESTER — LaDontay Bell gave a parting speech to his 2018 Chester High football team Saturday afternoon
The third-year boss of the Clippers got a bit choked up as he talked to his seniors, many of whom had tears streaming down their cheeks. The one message that resonated the most was something we’ve all heard thousands of times in sports.
“It’s not how you start,” Bell told his players, “it’s how you finish.”
That, in a nutshell, could define the Clippers’ season. They had their usual ups and downs, but played extremely well in three of their four home games. On Homecoming Day, before a packed crowd, Chester gutted out an 8-6 Del Val League victory over Chichester to finish 3-1 at Chester Athletic Complex, its first winning home record since 2007. Chester’s win knocked Chichester out of playoff contention in District 1 Class 5A.
For the third year in a row the Clippers went 3-7 under Bell’s tutelage, showing potential but never quite putting all the pieces together during the course of a long season.
“You can talk Xs and Os, but if you can take the message and apply it to everyday life, that’s important. You know what, let’s end this well and that’s been our message all week,” Bell said. “We didn’t play our very best this year, but we knew we wanted to finish strong so we can go into the offseason feeling pretty good.”
For Bell, it was a day to celebrate the hard work and dedication of his senior class.
“That group has been with me ever since I was the head coach over at the middle school,” he said. “I was coaching them in seventh and eighth grade, and they’ve been with each other for a while. As I became an assistant coach and head coach … those boys were with me. Those are the memories that I can share with them. They were my first class and I’ll always remember those guys.”
Senior defensive end Tylee Williams-Clark is garnering interest from Shippensburg University. He was a rock on the defensive line all season for the Clippers. He brought an infectious, positive attitude to every game.
“This team is a family to me and we’re a brotherhood,” said Williams-Clark, fighting back tears. “To come out and win this, our last game and our last time saying ‘Hooyah’ together, it feels great.”
Top offensive lineman Ian Jones will miss playing with Williams-Clark, who is “the best defender in the Del Val,” he said. And he will never forget playing with “my man, my quarterback,” senior Tahree Fuller-Bryan. Jones also shouted out fellow offensive linemen Amandre Thomas, Quishaun Neal, Shair Henry and Darnell Jones.
“I couldn’t do this without them,” Ian Jones said. “You’ve got to give credit to Chi, too. They’re a tough team, they didn’t back down, and they kept bringing it. When we had fourth and inches (late in the fourth quarter), I told my o-line, ‘Let’s get the first down and win this game.’ We came through.”
Chichester scores but can’t tie. 8-6 Chester with about 4 mins left pic.twitter.com/io8FgfF6Ce
— Matt Smith (@DTMattSmith) October 27, 2018
Chester scored all the points it needed on its first series of the game. Malik Langley ran a sweep play and sprinted 27 yards to the end zone. Anton Sterling’s two-point conversion run gave Chester an 8-0 advantage.
“I come into every game knowing that I can outrun people,” said Langley, a junior receiver/defensive back who ran for 102 yards on 15 carries. He also had two catches for 22 yards. “I knew because it was muddy out, we weren’t going to have our aerial attack so I knew we would run the ball a lot.”
Fuller-Bryan was 6-for-9 with 51 yards through the air. His QB sneak with less than a minute to play enabled the Clippers to run out the clock.
“It means a lot to see this,” Fuller-Bryan said. “We had everyone out here for us, we wanted to get this win for the seniors and everybody else.”
Fuller-Bryan ended his senior year with 1,197 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Final: Chester 8, Chichester 6
Clippers finish the season 3-7
Eagles go to 3-6 and play Sun Valley on Thanksgiving#delcofootball pic.twitter.com/S1Y8olnRt4— Matt Smith (@DTMattSmith) October 27, 2018
Chichester rallied in the fourth quarter. Nate Decenzi (7-for-19, 49 yards) completed a 14-yard pass to Nate Resine on third-and-10 to get inside the Chester 30-yard line. A pair of defensive holdings gave Chi a goal-to-go situation. On second-and-goal, running back Marquell Hudnell got across the goal line from two yards out. Chi went back to Hudnell on the two-point conversion try, but he was met at the line of scrimmage by a slew of Chester defenders.
The Eagles (3-6, 0-5) went winless in the Del Val and dropped their fifth straight decision after starting the year 3-1. They’ll close the year at home against Sun Valley on Thanksgiving.
“We don’t quit,” Decenzi said. “We always keep fighting throughout the game, even when we’re down.”
