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Hit the Ground Running: Celina begins district with 52-11 romp over Carrollton Ranchview
By Townsend Keller, Special to the Record
CARROLLTON -- It was business as usual for Celina (6-1) as they opened district play with a 52-11 drubbing of Carrollton Ranchview.
Playing Thursday night against a new district opponent didn’t faze the Bobcats as they reeled off their sixth win in a row.
“They’re really coming together and playing as a unit together,” said Bill Elliott, Celina head coach. “They’re being unselfish and doing whatever they’ve got to do, doing what we ask them to do and you couldn’t ask for any more than that.”
After a Ranchview three-and-out, a bad punt set Celina up at the Wolves’ 37-yard line. Sophomore quarterback Nathan Elliott capped off the short drive with a 1-yard sneak to give Celina a quick two-score lead.
Ranchview’s offense would cross midfield only once the entire first half. The Wolves would manage to get on the scoreboard with kicker Keidrien Wadley hitting a 23-yard field goal before the end of the first quarter.
“We’re going to suffocate you, hold you to three points and win the ballgame regardless of if we score 20 points or we score 100 points,” said Jake Raulerson, senior offensive tackle.
In the second quarter, Elliott added two touchdown passes on consecutive drives, the first a 16-yard strike to senior wide receiver Ben Thiel who led all Celina receivers with 6 catches for 105 yards. The second score came on a 3-yard lob to junior halfback Connor Torbert.
After injuring his ankle against Perryton, Elliott was limited to only 8 pass attempts against Dallas Roosevelt. Against Ranchview, he went 10-of-13 for 141 yards, two passing touchdowns and another on the ground.
“[The ankle] is getting a lot better,” coach Elliott said. “He’s doing a lot of improving, a lot of treatment, a lot of work on it. He should be about full speed hopefully in another week.”
Senior kicker Fabian Aguirre added a 20-yard field goal to give Celina a 31-3 lead at halftime.
“It’s the start of district play and we made a statement,”Raulerson said. “We held them to fifty yards in the first half and that’s a huge accomplishment for our defense.”
A short downpour to start the half didn’t dampen the Bobcats' ability to find the end zone, as Sims juked his way to a 33-yard touchdown. He would end the night as Celina’s leading rusher with 9 attempts for 102 yards and two touchdowns.
Torbert would add a 2-yard score on the next Celina drive and senior halfback Tommy Self contributed a 1-yard try in the fourth quarter to round out Celina’s scoring for the night.
Ranchview would add a consolation score late in the fourth quarter courtesy of a 28-yard Wadley pass to Nick Burns that saw Dominique Carter convert the two-point try.
Wadley ended his night as the most productive Ranchview player finishing 11-of-24 for 80 yards and a touchdown. Burns hauled in 3 catches for 44 yards and a touchdown.
The win marks the fourth game this season Celina has scored more than 40 points. In all six wins this season, the Bobcats have scored more than 30 points.
“At the start of the year we weren’t a spread team and we were trying to be a spread team,” Raulerson said. “We didn’t have an identity as an offense. Slowly, progressively, we got to have an identity.”
The Bobcats return home next Friday for a 7:30 P.M. matchup with Frisco Lone Star for their second district game. With a 6-1 record to match Celina’s, Coach Elliott is well aware of the threat the Rangers pose.
“Lonestar is a very talented team, they’re going to be very good,” he said. “We’re trying to keep [the players] focused on what we’ve got to do and what our goal is. They’ve just got to take it week by week, take every game seriously. They are a dang good team, so we’re going to have our hands full next week.”
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