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Deep Freeze: Celina cools down Dallas Roosevelt, 49-9
By Townsend Keller, Special to the Record
A sudden cold front seemed to be an omen for Celina (5-1) as they hosted Dallas Roosevelt (1-5) and found themselves in a position they haven't experienced since the season opener: playing from behind.
The Bobcats would rally to rout Mustangs, 49-9, albeit not without some hardships out of the gates.
After the opening kickoff went out of bounds, setting the Mustangs on Celina's 48-yard line, Roosevelt quarterback Jamar Mack took the first play from scrimmage 42 yards on a draw. Two plays later he scampered into the end zone on a 6-yard score, putting Celina down at 7-0 before most fans had found their way to their seats.
"I think we weren't expecting how powerful their offense really was," said Forrest Keller , senior defensive tackle. "They've got some speed on their team."
Celina would respond with a 75-yard drive of their own, capping it off with a 1-yard scoring run from junior halfback Micah Nelson. An offsides call negated a pick-six from Roosevelt during the drive.
"It was a little sloppy at times but I think it was because of the atmosphere of the game and the way it was tonight," Elliott said. "We've got to get a little more focused as we get into district."
After a three-and-out from Roosevelt, sophomore halfback Nick Grant made the following Celina drive a one-play affair with a 36-yard scoring run. Mack, however, continued to be a thorn in the Bobcats' side, scooping up a blocked extra point attempt and taking it 94 yards to give Roosevelt two points and keep the game at 15-9.
Mack led all Roosevelt offensive players with 150 total yards, many of which were amassed on third-down conversions.
"We were having trouble with the pass rush tonight and hopefully we can work on that," Keller said.
Sophomore halfback Cash Conder would put any Roosevelt comeback hopes to bed though, scoring Celina's next two touchdowns. The first was a 3-yard run to close out the first quarter and the second came from hauling in a 36-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Nathan Elliott to solidify the Celina lead 28-9.
Nathan, usually a very mobile quarterback, didn't have any rushing attempts on the night after injuring his ankle against Perryton in Yukon, Okla. last week.
"We're trying to get that run game going, the linemen did a good job last week with that so we wanted to keep working on that this week," coach Elliott said. "We've been throwing the ball well all through the other part of the year, so we wanted to do that and just pound it a little bit."
And pound it they did.
The Bobcats ground game hummed along without Nathan, with the offensive line paving the way for over 400 total rushing yards and five different halfbacks scoring touchdowns; the only hiccups being lost fumbles by Grant and senior halfback Willie Sims.
Both would redeem themselves before the night was out. In the third quarter Grant would strike again, this time from 7 yards out. In the fourth quarter Sims rocketed 76 yards to find pay dirt and sophomore Payton Baird punched one in from 2 yards out to give Celina a 49-9 victory.
Sims was the leading rusher for Celina, with 12 carries for 134 yards, a touchdown and fumble. Grant was close behind with 13 attempts for 97 yards, two scores and a fumble. Senior halfback Connor Torbert contributed 85 yards on 15 attempts. Elliott went 4-of-8 passing for 63 yards and a touchdown.
"It can be a whole lot better," Sims said of his team's progression. "We're only this much closer to being a championship team."
The rout marks the final non-district matchup for Celina, who meets Carrollton Ranchview Thursday at 7 p.m. from Standridge Stadium.
"They start counting now so we've got to get focused," coach Elliott said. "We're on a good roll right now so it's good to get that momentum going in. They're a lot like this team. A lot of skill, a lot of talent, a lot of great athletes, so we're going to have to do a good job to get prepared to control them."
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