CELINA BOBCATS VS. SANGER INDIANS

Friday, November 12, 2010

C.H. Collins Athletic Complex, Denton, TX

Its playoff football time in Texas and the Bobcats played like they knew it! We like to call playoff time “Bobcat Football Time” and on this night, it was all Celina! The Bobcats and the Indians teed it up on a cool, crisp, windy night at the beautiful C.H. Collins Athletic Complex in Denton, Texas. The Bi-District title was on the line, but more importantly, it was played for the right to advance to the 2nd round of the Class 3A Division One playoffs. It was Celina tradition vs. the upstart Sanger Indians. In a word, it was all BOBCATS! In my opinion, this Bobcat team came out prepared, focused, amped up, and ready to play good football. They played with confidence and they played fast. They were ready for some football!

With the Indians relying heavily on the strong arm of Dane Evans in the passing game, the wind was expected play a big part in the game. Sanger won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. Celina chose to receive the opening kickoff and would begin the game heading into a cool stiff wind of approximately 25-30 miles per hour.

Celina took the opening kickoff and methodically drove the ball into the teeth of the wind and into the teeth of the Indian defense. Mixing in the four headed monster running game with a conservative passing game, Celina drove the ball to the Indian 20 yard line where the drive stalled. The Indians then went on offense and converted a first down before being forced to punt the ball back to the Bobcats. From this point on it was all Celina.

Jose Romero took care of the first TD when he caught a Jacob Stephenson pass from 8 yards out and took the ball into the end zone. Jesus Vargas was good on the PAT and Celina led 7-0. Celina kicked off to Sanger and they were unable to move the ball with the wind at their back and the Bobcat offense took over again. Early in the 2nd quarter Jacob Stephenson spotted Tight End Dillon Kiran open in the flat and he turned it into a 6 yard scoring play. Vargas was again good on the PAT and the Bobcat lead increased to 14-0. The Orange defense continued to prevent the strong arm of Sanger QB Dane Evans from doing any serious damage. They forced Indian punts or forced them to run out of downs and the offense knew what to do with the ball when they got it back. Celina would add two more scores in the 2nd quarter to take total command of the game. Daniel Mendoza scored on a 12 yard pass from Stephenson, followed by Kiran’s second touchdown of the night, this one coming on a 23 yard pass and reception. Vargas was true on both PAT’s and Celina led 28-0 at the half.

Celina would score twice more in the 3rd quarter before the Indians got on the scoreboard. Jamarick Simmons broke loose on an 8 yard run for one score, and Jose Romero stepped into the end zone from a yard out for the other TD. Romero’s TD was set up by an outstanding reception by Cody Rhodes that took the ball to the Indian 1 yard line just before the quarter ended.

Sanger would strike on the first play of the 4th quarter with Dane Evans hitting Ryan Scott on a 41 yard scoring play. That made the score 42-7. Celina would get one more score before emptying the bench entirely, with Jamarick Simmons running for 18 yards and the final TD. Vargas made the extra point and that would be all of the scoring in the game, leaving the final score at Celina 49, Sanger 7. The loss ended the Indians season with a 9-2 season record which was an outstanding year for the Indians. They have Jr. QB Dane Evans returning next year so it is likely we haven’t heard the last from the Indians.

Celina’s defense turned in an excellent performance. Jesus Vargas has turned into a fantastic player and always seems to find himself near the ball. Against Sanger he was able to block a punt that led to a touchdown, and recovered two Indian fumbles. For his outstanding play, Vargas was nominated as the Dallas Morning News Defensive Player of the Week. Congratulations Jesus!

The front four of the defense was able to put pressure on Evans all night, forcing him to throw under duress. The biggest thorn in Evan’s side was Dallas Russell. He continually put pressure on Evans and was able to put him on the ground more than once. Sawyer Levitt and Tanner Franklin also had big games on the front line. The secondary provided excellent coverage, led by Cody Rhodes who drew the assignment of covering the Indians top receiver Nathan Rotter. Rotter was able to snag four passed for 46 yards but he was kept out of the end zone. Harrison Sherwood also had a good performance on his side of the field, and picked off one Evan’s pass. For the game, Evans completed 15 of 32 passes for 194 yards and the one TD to Ryan Scott. He also suffered two interceptions, one by Sherwood and the other by Justin Leshowitz late in the game.

On offense, the running back by committee delivered in their usual way. Mendoza rushed for 74 yards on 8 carries, Simmons rushed for 72 yards on 15 carries, Romero added 68 yards on 14 carries, and Anthony Garcia added 33 yards on only 5 carries. All total the Bobcats rushed for 288 yards. Celina’s Jacob Stephenson was the better passer on this night. Stephenson completed 13 of 19 attempts for 172 yards and 4 TD’s. Those 13 passes went to six different receivers. The Celina offense was so efficient that they rolled up 25 first downs and were never forced to punt.

For the Celina Bobcats it’s one down, four to go. Celina will face a very strong Lovejoy Leopard team this Friday. The Leopards are state ranked and took care of A. Maceo Smith last week by a big margin. Lovejoy has assembled an excellent team and will present the Bobcats with a serious challenge. The game will be played at C.H. Collins Athletic Complex again so the Bobcats will have that working for them. Lovejoy will be the best team Celina has faced thus far in carving out their 11-0 record. Celina showed it could play a full four quarters if required, but once again they were so dominant in the first three quarters that the starters were able to rest in the fourth quarter against the Indians.

Against the Leopards they should plan on playing all 48 minutes for all 4 quarters. This should be a great game between two really fine football teams. Both teams are well coached and have a great deal of talent. The Bobcats will have to bring their “A” game if they are to advance to the 3rd round. I always like the Bobcats chances when both teams only have one week to prepare. Come on over to Denton and support your 2010 Celina Bobcats. They need and deserve it. It’s Bobcat Football Time! See you at the game.

Pat Hunn