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11-10-2007, 02:10 PM
Celina wraps up perfect regular season By Bill Spinks
Herald Democrat
CELINA — For a fleeting moment, there was a spark of hope for Whitesboro. The Bearcats trailed by only seven in the second quarter and had the football, and reports coming out of Pilot Point favored Whitesboro’s playoff scenario.
Then reality set in. Celina’s ground game was too strong for the Bearcats to overcome, and the No. 3-ranked Bobcats wrapped up their 14th undefeated regular season with a 44-7 win Friday night at Bobcat Field.
Celina (10-0, 7-0) will play Emory Rains next week in the Class 3A Division II bi-district round at Homer B. Johnson Stadium in Garland. It’s the same location where the Bobcats dispatched Canton, 35-6, in last year’s regional semifinals.
“I think they’re ready to go,” said Celina head coach Butch Ford of his charges. “They’ve done everything they needed to do to be where they are.”
Charley Waldrep rushed for 123 yards and three first-half touchdowns, and backfield mate Troy McCartney added 107 yards, including a 43-yard TD run which broke the game open in the third quarter.
But it was senior standout D’Anton Lynn who stole the show.
Showing the agility which will have him playing on Saturdays next fall, Lynn had two interceptions and a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown.
In the third quarter, Whitesboro, which had been punting the ball intentionally out of bounds, made the mistake of kicking deep this time. Lynn took the ball at the Celina 40, got two huge blocks, and juked a tackler just in front of the goal line for his second special-teams TD of the year.
“He’s one of the best punt returners in the state,” said Whitesboro coach Eddie Gill, who was on Spike Dykes’ staff at Texas Tech while Lynn’s father, Anthony, was a running back there.
Lynn’s first interception came on the final play of the first half. Making the catch at his own 7, Lynn juked his way down the field, then reversed direction and saw nothing but real estate ahead. He was finally run out of bounds at the other 7 for an 86-yard runback that was more like 150 yards.
“I was tired,” Lynn said. “I couldn’t even feel my legs when I got tackled, I was so tired.”
Senior quarterback Seth Davis completed 8-of-13 passes for 128 yards to seven different receivers, going over the 1,000-yard mark on the year.
Whitesboro (7-3, 4-3) remains without a football postseason appearance in its history, despite matching the 1986 team as the winningest since 1948.
Justin Caffey rushed for 99 yards and a TD in his final game for Whitesboro.
Celina scored on drives of 84 and 87 yards to start the game, with Waldrep doing the honors each time on runs of two and 34 yards.
Whitesboro finally got untracked late in the first quarter and into the second, with junior quarterback Travis Labhart hitting Clifton Vannoy with a 42-yard gain to the Celina 14. Four plays later, Caffey scored from three yards out to bring the Bearcats within 14-7 with 11:17 remaining in the first half.
Then an energized Bearcat defense sacked Davis twice and then pressured him into a deep pass that was picked off by Whitesboro’s Austin Gann, and Whitesboro was back in business.
“We were fired-up,” Gill said. “We thought we would be in the ballgame all the way through.”
But the Celina defense forced a punt, and the Bobcats drove 48 yards— all on the ground — for a 21-7 halftime lead on Waldrep’s third score of the night.
“That kind of scared me once they scored, and then when we turned it over, but I wasn’t that scared,” Davis said. “I knew our defense could stop them, and we’d get the ball back.”
The Bobcats pulled away in the second half with McCartney’s long scoring run, followed by Lynn’s punt return, and a 32-yard field goal by Chad Sprong. Freshman Jose Romero motored 25 yards for a TD with 5:56 left in the game to round out the scoring.
“We kind of stalled, and they took it down and scored,” Gill said. “That took what we were going to try to do — run the football, control the clock, try to keep them limited on touches. When you don’t do that, you’re trying to play catch-up.
“Our kids played hard, but Celina’s a great ballclub, and we’re not to that level yet,” Gill added. “We’ll keep working, and hopefully we’ll close the gap a little bit year after year.”
After the game, Gill had a long talk with his 17 seniors, telling them their job is not done yet.
“They’re in a leadership role now,” he said. “Their job now is to challenge and dare the underclassmen to be better than they were. We have a lot of skill guys and linemen coming back. We’ll be alright; we just need to find some more to go with them, and get them in the weightroom and get them stronger and faster.”
One of those returnees is Labhart, who finished his junior year with 1,429 passing yards and 11 touchdowns.
“I’m going to work hard this offseason, and come back strong,” Labhart said. “Hopefully we can do it next year and not drop off in the second half. We’ll work hard this summer and see what we’ve got.”
LINK (http://www.heralddemocrat.com/articles/2007/11/10/sports/doc473584d9ceaa4334046388.txt)
Herald Democrat
CELINA — For a fleeting moment, there was a spark of hope for Whitesboro. The Bearcats trailed by only seven in the second quarter and had the football, and reports coming out of Pilot Point favored Whitesboro’s playoff scenario.
Then reality set in. Celina’s ground game was too strong for the Bearcats to overcome, and the No. 3-ranked Bobcats wrapped up their 14th undefeated regular season with a 44-7 win Friday night at Bobcat Field.
Celina (10-0, 7-0) will play Emory Rains next week in the Class 3A Division II bi-district round at Homer B. Johnson Stadium in Garland. It’s the same location where the Bobcats dispatched Canton, 35-6, in last year’s regional semifinals.
“I think they’re ready to go,” said Celina head coach Butch Ford of his charges. “They’ve done everything they needed to do to be where they are.”
Charley Waldrep rushed for 123 yards and three first-half touchdowns, and backfield mate Troy McCartney added 107 yards, including a 43-yard TD run which broke the game open in the third quarter.
But it was senior standout D’Anton Lynn who stole the show.
Showing the agility which will have him playing on Saturdays next fall, Lynn had two interceptions and a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown.
In the third quarter, Whitesboro, which had been punting the ball intentionally out of bounds, made the mistake of kicking deep this time. Lynn took the ball at the Celina 40, got two huge blocks, and juked a tackler just in front of the goal line for his second special-teams TD of the year.
“He’s one of the best punt returners in the state,” said Whitesboro coach Eddie Gill, who was on Spike Dykes’ staff at Texas Tech while Lynn’s father, Anthony, was a running back there.
Lynn’s first interception came on the final play of the first half. Making the catch at his own 7, Lynn juked his way down the field, then reversed direction and saw nothing but real estate ahead. He was finally run out of bounds at the other 7 for an 86-yard runback that was more like 150 yards.
“I was tired,” Lynn said. “I couldn’t even feel my legs when I got tackled, I was so tired.”
Senior quarterback Seth Davis completed 8-of-13 passes for 128 yards to seven different receivers, going over the 1,000-yard mark on the year.
Whitesboro (7-3, 4-3) remains without a football postseason appearance in its history, despite matching the 1986 team as the winningest since 1948.
Justin Caffey rushed for 99 yards and a TD in his final game for Whitesboro.
Celina scored on drives of 84 and 87 yards to start the game, with Waldrep doing the honors each time on runs of two and 34 yards.
Whitesboro finally got untracked late in the first quarter and into the second, with junior quarterback Travis Labhart hitting Clifton Vannoy with a 42-yard gain to the Celina 14. Four plays later, Caffey scored from three yards out to bring the Bearcats within 14-7 with 11:17 remaining in the first half.
Then an energized Bearcat defense sacked Davis twice and then pressured him into a deep pass that was picked off by Whitesboro’s Austin Gann, and Whitesboro was back in business.
“We were fired-up,” Gill said. “We thought we would be in the ballgame all the way through.”
But the Celina defense forced a punt, and the Bobcats drove 48 yards— all on the ground — for a 21-7 halftime lead on Waldrep’s third score of the night.
“That kind of scared me once they scored, and then when we turned it over, but I wasn’t that scared,” Davis said. “I knew our defense could stop them, and we’d get the ball back.”
The Bobcats pulled away in the second half with McCartney’s long scoring run, followed by Lynn’s punt return, and a 32-yard field goal by Chad Sprong. Freshman Jose Romero motored 25 yards for a TD with 5:56 left in the game to round out the scoring.
“We kind of stalled, and they took it down and scored,” Gill said. “That took what we were going to try to do — run the football, control the clock, try to keep them limited on touches. When you don’t do that, you’re trying to play catch-up.
“Our kids played hard, but Celina’s a great ballclub, and we’re not to that level yet,” Gill added. “We’ll keep working, and hopefully we’ll close the gap a little bit year after year.”
After the game, Gill had a long talk with his 17 seniors, telling them their job is not done yet.
“They’re in a leadership role now,” he said. “Their job now is to challenge and dare the underclassmen to be better than they were. We have a lot of skill guys and linemen coming back. We’ll be alright; we just need to find some more to go with them, and get them in the weightroom and get them stronger and faster.”
One of those returnees is Labhart, who finished his junior year with 1,429 passing yards and 11 touchdowns.
“I’m going to work hard this offseason, and come back strong,” Labhart said. “Hopefully we can do it next year and not drop off in the second half. We’ll work hard this summer and see what we’ve got.”
LINK (http://www.heralddemocrat.com/articles/2007/11/10/sports/doc473584d9ceaa4334046388.txt)