kepdawg
12-06-2007, 01:33 AM
Dual threat: Celina's Davis does more than just handoffs
By Bill Spinks
Herald Democrat
CELINA — With all the weapons Celina possesses running the football, it would be easy to think of quarterback Seth Davis as simply a bus driver.
But Davis is much more than that for the No. 3-ranked Bobcats as they churn once again toward the state finals. The senior southpaw has passed for 1,423 yards and seven touchdowns on the year, and has also rushed for four TDs and nearly 500 yards as Celina (13-0) gets set to take on Glen Rose on Saturday for the Region II championship and a state semifinal berth. Two weeks ago against West, Davis rushed for a pair of scores and threw for another in the first half, leading Celina to a 21-0 halftime lead en route to a 41-0 shutout win.
“Seth does everything you need him to do,” said Celina head coach Butch Ford after that game. “What can you say about him? He’s a winner.”
During Davis’ sophomore season, he got a lot of action in the second half of multiple blowout wins as he backed up Nathan Tune, who scored all four Bobcat TDs in their 28-12 Class 2A Division II state-final win over Omaha Paul Pewitt.
After Tune graduated and later earned a football scholarship at North Texas, Davis drew the starting nod in 2006 and drove the Bobcats all the way to the Class 3A Division II state championship game in their first year back in 3A, losing to Liberty Hill on a last-second field goal.
“I still think about the game all the time,” Davis said. “Getting that feeling of losing at Celina, you don’t get it that much here. When it finally happens in the biggest game of the year, it kinds of sets a fire in you. You just want to go out there and do it all again but come away with a win.”
Davis put his experience — and that added motivation — to use this season.
“Our whole aim is to ‘Finish It’ this year,” Davis said, echoing the Bobcats’ slogan. “That’s what we plan on doing — just going out there and giving our hardest in everything we got.”
Davis sits at the controls of an offense that has been unstoppable, not scoring fewer than 35 points since Celina’s season-opener.
Celina has more than 6,000 total yards on the year, the majority, naturally, on the ground.
Charley Waldrep, still only a junior, had the second-best rushing total of his career last week, topping 200 yards and scoring three TDs to raise his season total to 25. Backfield mate Troy McCartney, also a junior, has proven to be quite a second option, running for 904 yards and 12 TDs so far.
“Charley’s an amazing running back,” Davis said. “He and Troy both are so hard to tackle. They go out and give everything they got and hustle everywhere. It’s great having them in the backfield knowing when you get the ball in their hands, something good’s going to happen.”
Proving the Bobcats can do more than run, Davis led Celina last summer to its second 7-on-7 state passing championship.
“That was great,” Davis said. “Celina had never been much of a passing team, and coming out and winning state in a passing game, it was nice.”
McCartney is a dual threat both running and catching the football, as he is the second-leading receiver with 274 yards. But freshman Jose Romero has emerged as a top target, with 19 catches for 352 yards.
Altogether, it makes Celina a very salty offense as the Bobcats continue their climb to state.
“We’ve got a lot of good running backs and good receivers on offense, so we’re pretty stacked,” Davis said. “We’ve got a lot of weapons we can go to when we need them.”
Davis’ older sister, Jordan, signed a college basketball letter with Baylor out of Celina High School in 2001 and, despite suffering a life-threatening illness that forced her to miss the 2003-04 season, returned to the lineup to play a role off the bench for the Lady Bears’ NCAA national championship team in 2005.
For Seth Davis, he’s not expecting to get the same chance to play at the collegiate level that Jordan did. Which makes this season even more important to him.
“It’s pretty exciting knowing it’s your last year and knowing that this is it,” Davis added. “For guys like me, this is the last year. There’s no more chances, no more college. You’ve got to leave it all here now. It’s just great getting another shot at it.”
LINK (http://www.heralddemocrat.com/articles/2007/12/06/sports/doc475791fa60ae7869825943.txt)
By Bill Spinks
Herald Democrat
CELINA — With all the weapons Celina possesses running the football, it would be easy to think of quarterback Seth Davis as simply a bus driver.
But Davis is much more than that for the No. 3-ranked Bobcats as they churn once again toward the state finals. The senior southpaw has passed for 1,423 yards and seven touchdowns on the year, and has also rushed for four TDs and nearly 500 yards as Celina (13-0) gets set to take on Glen Rose on Saturday for the Region II championship and a state semifinal berth. Two weeks ago against West, Davis rushed for a pair of scores and threw for another in the first half, leading Celina to a 21-0 halftime lead en route to a 41-0 shutout win.
“Seth does everything you need him to do,” said Celina head coach Butch Ford after that game. “What can you say about him? He’s a winner.”
During Davis’ sophomore season, he got a lot of action in the second half of multiple blowout wins as he backed up Nathan Tune, who scored all four Bobcat TDs in their 28-12 Class 2A Division II state-final win over Omaha Paul Pewitt.
After Tune graduated and later earned a football scholarship at North Texas, Davis drew the starting nod in 2006 and drove the Bobcats all the way to the Class 3A Division II state championship game in their first year back in 3A, losing to Liberty Hill on a last-second field goal.
“I still think about the game all the time,” Davis said. “Getting that feeling of losing at Celina, you don’t get it that much here. When it finally happens in the biggest game of the year, it kinds of sets a fire in you. You just want to go out there and do it all again but come away with a win.”
Davis put his experience — and that added motivation — to use this season.
“Our whole aim is to ‘Finish It’ this year,” Davis said, echoing the Bobcats’ slogan. “That’s what we plan on doing — just going out there and giving our hardest in everything we got.”
Davis sits at the controls of an offense that has been unstoppable, not scoring fewer than 35 points since Celina’s season-opener.
Celina has more than 6,000 total yards on the year, the majority, naturally, on the ground.
Charley Waldrep, still only a junior, had the second-best rushing total of his career last week, topping 200 yards and scoring three TDs to raise his season total to 25. Backfield mate Troy McCartney, also a junior, has proven to be quite a second option, running for 904 yards and 12 TDs so far.
“Charley’s an amazing running back,” Davis said. “He and Troy both are so hard to tackle. They go out and give everything they got and hustle everywhere. It’s great having them in the backfield knowing when you get the ball in their hands, something good’s going to happen.”
Proving the Bobcats can do more than run, Davis led Celina last summer to its second 7-on-7 state passing championship.
“That was great,” Davis said. “Celina had never been much of a passing team, and coming out and winning state in a passing game, it was nice.”
McCartney is a dual threat both running and catching the football, as he is the second-leading receiver with 274 yards. But freshman Jose Romero has emerged as a top target, with 19 catches for 352 yards.
Altogether, it makes Celina a very salty offense as the Bobcats continue their climb to state.
“We’ve got a lot of good running backs and good receivers on offense, so we’re pretty stacked,” Davis said. “We’ve got a lot of weapons we can go to when we need them.”
Davis’ older sister, Jordan, signed a college basketball letter with Baylor out of Celina High School in 2001 and, despite suffering a life-threatening illness that forced her to miss the 2003-04 season, returned to the lineup to play a role off the bench for the Lady Bears’ NCAA national championship team in 2005.
For Seth Davis, he’s not expecting to get the same chance to play at the collegiate level that Jordan did. Which makes this season even more important to him.
“It’s pretty exciting knowing it’s your last year and knowing that this is it,” Davis added. “For guys like me, this is the last year. There’s no more chances, no more college. You’ve got to leave it all here now. It’s just great getting another shot at it.”
LINK (http://www.heralddemocrat.com/articles/2007/12/06/sports/doc475791fa60ae7869825943.txt)