Orange_Defense
12-23-2006, 09:09 AM
Underclassmen put Bobcats on edge of more history
By Bill Spinks
Herald Democrat
CELINA — The Celina Bobcats who first took the field Aug. 7 for two-a-days are a very different team from the one that will take the field Saturday in Waco for the Class 3A Division II state championship. Head coach Butch Ford welcomed back a squad with only three returning starters on either side of the ball, and was faced with uncertainty at several positions — namely, running back, quarterback and linebacker.
Then the injuries began to mount. Senior running back Austin Kessler was lost for the year with a knee injury, and juniors D’Anton Lynn (ankle) and Cody Wright (hamstring) missed several games.
Heading into a new season in 3A after winning the 2A Division II title the year before, it was a recipe for disaster.
“We had to make a lot of changes with a lot of people,” Ford said. “We played a lot of people in unproven places. What happened was, all those starters lost has given somebody else a chance to play.”
And once again, just as in many a “rebuilding” year Celina has experienced in winning six 2A state championships the last 11 years, Ford’s choices to fill in the holes panned out — and in spades.
“Right at the beginning of the year, once we beat Robinson and (Argyle) Liberty Christian, we knew there was definitely a chance we could do this if we pull together,” said senior tackle Jamie Blatnick.
With only 15 lettermen on the team from last year’s 2A Division II titlists, Ford’s Bobcat squad is younger than any of the other six Celina teams which have made it to the state championship game in the last 11 years. Of the 96 players on Celina’s postseason roster, only 15 are seniors.
But that hasn’t stopped Celina from rolling into another state title game — this time in Class 3A.
Charley Waldrep, a sophomore, took over Kessler’s role as the lead running back and responded with 29 rushing touchdowns and more than 1,700 yards. Waldrep’s classmate, Troy McCartney, is Celina’s top receiver, grabbing 27 passes for 431 yards and six TDs.
At quarterback, junior Seth Davis emerged as the starter and remained there until a hip injury suffered in the Canton game forced senior Dru Prosser to take over against Brownsboro in the Region II final two weeks ago. The Cats didn’t miss a beat as Prosser led Celina to a 35-14 victory.
“Dru stepped up big against Brownsboro, and in the second half of the Canton game, ” Ford said. “If he hadn’t, we’d have been in big trouble.”
And the most pleasant surprise of all has been at linebacker, where freshman Caleb Lavey has been solid in the middle, and juniors Lynn and Austin Wyatt have helped Celina’s defense allow only 58 rushing yards per game in the playoffs.
“I wasn’t counting on that at all,” Ford said. “All three of them are new to that position.”
With all those youngsters in tow, the Bobcats (15-0) will take a shot at their first 3A championship at 4 p.m. against Liberty Hill in the Division II state final at Baylor University’s Floyd Casey Stadium.
The Bobcats have never lost a state final in their football history, going 6-0-1, with the tie resulting in a co-championship with Big Sandy in 1974.
Celina, which already owns the state record of 68 consecutive wins between 1998-2002, is working on another streak that stands at 31. But the historical ramifications of a victory Saturday are even greater.
The Bobcats have a chance to not only win a state-record eighth football title, but can also become the first team ever to win state a year after winning it in a lower classification. That’s something even Southlake Carroll, which won in its first 5A year in 2002, never did.
Those are accomplishments that, in the early going, seemed very distant. But in retrospect, maybe they weren’t so out-of-reach after all.
Celina opened the season with a 42-14 win over Robinson; then the Bobcats won, 28-14, over Liberty Christian. A 28-7 win over Plano Prestonwood sent the Bobcats into district play 3-0.
Robinson would go on to finish as 3A Division I runner-up. Liberty Christian would reach the TAPPS Division II title game.
“People laughed at our non-district schedule, but all three of them were tough, and all three teams were very good,” Ford said. “I felt like after we got through those three games, we’d have a good chance to have a good team.”
For those few seniors on the squad, nothing would be sweeter than to go out by winning another state championship and making more history for Celina.
“We knew we could do it, and we’ve done it, and we’ve got one more,” Blatnick said. “Forty-eight more minutes.”
By Bill Spinks
Herald Democrat
CELINA — The Celina Bobcats who first took the field Aug. 7 for two-a-days are a very different team from the one that will take the field Saturday in Waco for the Class 3A Division II state championship. Head coach Butch Ford welcomed back a squad with only three returning starters on either side of the ball, and was faced with uncertainty at several positions — namely, running back, quarterback and linebacker.
Then the injuries began to mount. Senior running back Austin Kessler was lost for the year with a knee injury, and juniors D’Anton Lynn (ankle) and Cody Wright (hamstring) missed several games.
Heading into a new season in 3A after winning the 2A Division II title the year before, it was a recipe for disaster.
“We had to make a lot of changes with a lot of people,” Ford said. “We played a lot of people in unproven places. What happened was, all those starters lost has given somebody else a chance to play.”
And once again, just as in many a “rebuilding” year Celina has experienced in winning six 2A state championships the last 11 years, Ford’s choices to fill in the holes panned out — and in spades.
“Right at the beginning of the year, once we beat Robinson and (Argyle) Liberty Christian, we knew there was definitely a chance we could do this if we pull together,” said senior tackle Jamie Blatnick.
With only 15 lettermen on the team from last year’s 2A Division II titlists, Ford’s Bobcat squad is younger than any of the other six Celina teams which have made it to the state championship game in the last 11 years. Of the 96 players on Celina’s postseason roster, only 15 are seniors.
But that hasn’t stopped Celina from rolling into another state title game — this time in Class 3A.
Charley Waldrep, a sophomore, took over Kessler’s role as the lead running back and responded with 29 rushing touchdowns and more than 1,700 yards. Waldrep’s classmate, Troy McCartney, is Celina’s top receiver, grabbing 27 passes for 431 yards and six TDs.
At quarterback, junior Seth Davis emerged as the starter and remained there until a hip injury suffered in the Canton game forced senior Dru Prosser to take over against Brownsboro in the Region II final two weeks ago. The Cats didn’t miss a beat as Prosser led Celina to a 35-14 victory.
“Dru stepped up big against Brownsboro, and in the second half of the Canton game, ” Ford said. “If he hadn’t, we’d have been in big trouble.”
And the most pleasant surprise of all has been at linebacker, where freshman Caleb Lavey has been solid in the middle, and juniors Lynn and Austin Wyatt have helped Celina’s defense allow only 58 rushing yards per game in the playoffs.
“I wasn’t counting on that at all,” Ford said. “All three of them are new to that position.”
With all those youngsters in tow, the Bobcats (15-0) will take a shot at their first 3A championship at 4 p.m. against Liberty Hill in the Division II state final at Baylor University’s Floyd Casey Stadium.
The Bobcats have never lost a state final in their football history, going 6-0-1, with the tie resulting in a co-championship with Big Sandy in 1974.
Celina, which already owns the state record of 68 consecutive wins between 1998-2002, is working on another streak that stands at 31. But the historical ramifications of a victory Saturday are even greater.
The Bobcats have a chance to not only win a state-record eighth football title, but can also become the first team ever to win state a year after winning it in a lower classification. That’s something even Southlake Carroll, which won in its first 5A year in 2002, never did.
Those are accomplishments that, in the early going, seemed very distant. But in retrospect, maybe they weren’t so out-of-reach after all.
Celina opened the season with a 42-14 win over Robinson; then the Bobcats won, 28-14, over Liberty Christian. A 28-7 win over Plano Prestonwood sent the Bobcats into district play 3-0.
Robinson would go on to finish as 3A Division I runner-up. Liberty Christian would reach the TAPPS Division II title game.
“People laughed at our non-district schedule, but all three of them were tough, and all three teams were very good,” Ford said. “I felt like after we got through those three games, we’d have a good chance to have a good team.”
For those few seniors on the squad, nothing would be sweeter than to go out by winning another state championship and making more history for Celina.
“We knew we could do it, and we’ve done it, and we’ve got one more,” Blatnick said. “Forty-eight more minutes.”