Chelsea Footballs “Shake & Bake” Duo

Chelsea Football’s Cash Shegan And Kyle Bell

Some friendships are crafted over time and some just happen on the spot naturally. And Chelsea Seniors Cash Shegan and Kyle Bell’s friendship has been since the day they met. They have become best friends over the years. They hang out together, ride horses in rodeo together, and are 2 starters side by side on the defensive line for the Chelsea Bulldog football team. They have been dubbed with the nickname “shake and bake” since the 8th grade.

Bell plays defensive end while Shegan lines up at tackle and together they are a force to be reckoned with. Shegan got an almost unheard of amount of playing time for a junior last year. But he feels he earned it.

“I show up at every practice and give my all,” Shegan said. “When I’m on that field I want to be the meanest man possible and hit opponents and stop them in their tracks for our team.”

Shegan has worked out quite a bit over the summer and comes into the 2016 season bigger, stronger, and faster. And it’s not just lifting weights that make him that way. He lives with his parents Mike and Joanne Shegan on a horse farm in Chelsea where he is often working with 2,000 pound rolls of hay! He cares for the horses and is a farrier.  He also has his own rodeo and is a champion team roper, calf roper, and steer wrestler. So he knows a thing or two about bringing down big, fast beast.

“I love the rodeo. It’s fun and competitive,” Shegan stated.  “I’ve been doing it for years and I guess it just runs in my bloodline since my mom and dad have been involved with it most of their lives also.”

Shegan, who has been playing football for 12 years, is looking forward to the 2016 season. After graduating many great defensive players from last years state championship runner-up team, Shegan knows it’s his time to shine and step up.

“Going to the state championship was great,” Shegan said. “It was a whole new experience. It was awesome to just run across that field knowing we made it that far. It was an honor for our team because we earned it fair and square with hard work and dedication. I think this year we have a new level of intensity to our team and the team got a taste of what it’s like to go that far and we want to get there again. And win!”

Bell is the other half of shake and bake. Although he didn’t play as much as he wanted to last year he never let it get him down and continued to practice hard and get stronger. And he’s really looking forward to the 2016 season.

“It was great to be at the state championship game,” Bell said. “Our team played hard and we fought our way to get there. It wasn’t easy. And I’m hoping we can get back there this year. We have a lot of younger guys but it’s up to us seniors to step up and help them the best we can. We’re a team.”

Bell spends most of his summer and weekends when he’s not doing football, working doing construction with his dad Rick Wisbon. And his mother Sandy Wisbon is his biggest fan and supporter. The Shegans & Wisbons are all great friends and you can definitely hear them cheering at every Chelsea football game as loud as they can, screaming 1….2….3….HIT SOMEBODY!

Bell, who plans to go to college after high school and be an electrician, has been playing football for “As long as he can remember.” His dad Rick used to coach him when he was younger. Bell enjoys working on cars, hunting, fishing, riding his quad, his jet ski, and hanging out with his friends when he does have any free time. He also enjoys playing with his dogs Chubz, who many call the original Chelsea Bulldog, and Luna.

“I have a great feeling about this season,” Bell predicted. “I think the team is going to do great. We have to all know our roles and our jobs and help each other out. And I need to step up and be a good leader to the younger guys, show them why we were state finalist last year.”

The Bulldogs will be kicking off their 2016 season with a tough game in Detroit at Wayne State University, Saturday, August 27th at noon against a very good River Rouge team, who were state runners-up in their division last season.

Shake & Bake

Cash Shegan in the playoffs against Coldwater

Cash brings down a Coldwater player

Kyle Bell in the 2015 playoffs

Kyle Bell gets his arms up to put pressure on the offense

The Shegans and Wisbons celebrate in Jackson in the snow at the playoffs

Cash (number 54 for 2016) brings a running back down hard

 

Chelsea’s Formidable Defensive Front 7

Chelsea’s Defense comes up big against Coldwater on 4th down

It was the legendary Alabama Head Coach Bear Bryant that said, “Offense wins game, Defense wins championships.” And the Chelsea Bulldogs have proven that all season long against some very highly ranked, high scoring offenses. At one point in the season the Bulldogs defense went 22  quarters without giving up a point, 5 and a half games. In the playoffs against their opponents that were averaging almost 35 points scored a game, the defense has given up an average of 10 points a game, and most of those points were given up late in the game. And they have faced some really good competition.

The defensive front 7 is led by All Conference and Ann Arbor Area best defensive player of the year Ty McTaggart. Also up front are All Conference players Trevor Kingsley and Quinn Kelly. Not only is the Chelsea defense big, but they have a lot of speed and a good nose for the ball. They play as one solid unit.

“Our defense is definitely a tight knit group,” Senior Defensive End Kingsley said about his defense this season. “We focused on something every coach said every week which was “Do your job”. We really bought into that and we trusted each other knowing that the other 10 guys on the field were going to do their jobs. There’s no real way to describe the brotherhood we have, we just knew it was there. Every time we were on the field we could look at each other with out saying anything and we would know we had each other’s back. We play with more enthusiasm than I could’ve ever imagined and it’s not just enthusiasm for yourself it was for everyone. We understood playing together which made the brotherhood the strongest.”

This team has grown up together on and off the field over many years. There is no real way to describe  the brotherhood. They all come from different areas of the city, different walks of life, but all have the common bond. To do the jobs they are assigned.

“We are a brotherhood, we have each others backs no matter what. We know we can trust each other out there,” Junior Defensive Tackle Cash Shegan stated as he and his father unloaded 2,000 pound hay rolls for their horses on a cold afternoon. “I’m so excited for this game. I’m anxious. I can’t wait, I’m ready to go. Go dogs,.” Shegan said as he smiled.

“This is going to be a good game,” Junior Defensive tackle Kyle Bell stated. “They’re a good team (Orchard Lake St. Mary’s). But our defense is strong and ready and we’re a good team too and we are very confident.” Then Kyle started talking about Ty McTaggart and how he was selected defensive player of the year. That’s how this team is. There are no big egos, no one trying to achieve big statistics. Each one will name another as who they feel is the best player on the team.

“Saturday’s game is going to be a great challenge, OLSM is a very talented team,” Senior linebacker Caden Murphy said. “Our defense has worked well together all year. We have a good understanding of each other and we are excited for a good challenge. The atmosphere Saturday is going to be exciting and nothing like we have been involved in before which will be very cool.”

Many pundits have not given Chelsea much credit to even get this far. They have claimed inexperience, can’t compete with the offenses, can’t stop the run, and many other reasons. But each and every week Chelsea has proved them wrong. And all the so called “expert sports analyst” this week have them losing to OLSM, and in many of their picks they have them getting blown out.

“That’s okay, they can say what they want, we don’t pay attention to any of that,” said Senior Defensive End Quinn Kelly. “We do our talking on the field. We do what our coaches say and we only worry about our team and our play. We are a brotherhood and will go out Saturday and do what we do best.”

The Bulldogs take on the Eaglets Saturday night at 7:30 at Ford Field. Tickets are available at the gate for $10, cash only. Chelsea will be on the north side of the field, the visitors side.