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Same old song: Bobcats enter district on high note
BY Chris O’Dell, codell@starlocalnews.com
It took Roosevelt only three plays to find the end zone during Friday night’s game against Celina.
Junior quarterback Jamar Mack capped a three-play, 48-yard drive by breaking a 6-yard touchdown run to give his team an early 7-0 lead.
However, the Bobcats had more than just an answer for Mack’s score, marching 75 yards on their first possession and knotting the game on a 1-yard run from junior Micah Nelson.
It wasn’t just a quick answer that Celina had for Mack’s touchdown. The Bobcats clamped down for a remainder of the game and held Roosevelt to less than 200 yards of total offense while forcing four turnovers.
“The defense was able to make some adjustments and pretty much control them the rest of the way,” Elliott said.
Celina quickly ended any Roosevelt momentum with a three-and-out stop before taking only three plays to score a second touchdown in the first quarter. The Bobcats took the lead on a 36-yard touchdown run from sophomore running back Nick Grant at the 5:16 mark of the opening frame.
“I thought we played well,” Elliott said. “We didn’t get off to a good start, but we overcame that.”
Sophomore running back Cash Conder would add a third Celina rushing touchdown in the quarter to give the Bobcats a 21-9 lead heading into the second quarter.
Conder was one of five Celina players to get at least five carries in the game, as the Bobcats racked up 409 yards on the ground.
“If teams know you can run it like that, it really puts a strain on their defense,” Elliott said. “It helps balance our team.”
The consistently-balanced offense attempted just eight passes in the game, with sophomore quarterback Nathan Elliott completing four attempts for 63 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions.
Senior running back Willie Sims led the way with 123 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries while Grant added another 97 yards and two scores on 13 attempts.
“We’re fortunate at running back,” Elliott said. “We have several guys that are rotating around and taking their turn and we should also get back [junior Deshawn Davis] pretty soon.”
One of Elliott’s eight passes ended in a 37-yard touchdown to Conder, giving the Bobcats a 28-9 halftime lead.
The ground game did the rest of the work by wearing down Roosevelt in the second half and allowing the Bobcats to pull away with three touchdowns in the final two quarters.
Celina (5-1) will now shift its focus to district action, with a four-game slate determining playoff teams from 10-3A.
“We feel good about what we’re doing right now,” Elliott said. “We’ve got some confidence.”
The Bobcats kick off the action tonight against a 1-5 Carrollton Ranchview team that Elliott said is similar to Roosevelt.
“[Ranchview] is a talented team with a lot of speed and a lot of skill players,” he said.
The 7 p.m. contest will be played at Carrollton’s Standridge Stadium.
“We still have a lot of things we can improve on, but we’re playing well right now,” Elliott said.
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