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Keep On Rollin’: Celina takes out Frisco Lone Star 61-9.
BY Townsend Keller, Special to the Record
CELINA -- For a game that was billed as a showdown between two district heavyweights, it looked more like a mugging as Celina (7-1) physically dominated visiting Frisco Lone Star (6-2) in a 61-9 rout that was decided well before halftime.
It is commonplace to see Celina put up points like that against opponents with lesser records, but to see his team do it against top district competition has head coach Bill Elliott feeling good about his squad.
“I knew they had a very good team, very talented,” he said. “So it was great for us to be able to go out and do what we did tonight, especially the way they’ve been playing, the way they’ve been winning all year. They haven’t been giving up near that many points and they’ve been scoring a whole lot more than that. So it was great for our kids to do that against a team of that quality.”
Senior quarterback Will Campbell took the first offensive play for the Rangers and put his arm on display, completing a 76-yard bomb to senior receiver Toure’ Stevens. Junior halfback Ramon Harris found paydirt on a 1-yard push and a missed extra point made it seem like a clash of district titans was indeed unfolding.
“That’s what we do, we’re a spread offense and they stacked the box,” said Phil Fuller, Lone Star head coach. “So whenever we have opportunities offensively, whether it’s on the ground or throwing, we’re going to take what the defense gives us.”
But just as soon as the Rangers thought they were in the game, the Bobcats took them right out of it with their ground game.
On Celina’s next possession, sophomore halfback Cash Conder raced 72 yards to the end zone. The Bobcats retained possession with a recovered onside kick and junior halfback DeShawn Davis announced his comeback from an arm injury that had kept him out since the season opener as he contributed a 50-yard scoring run of his own.
“We kick it about five or six different ways and we always work on that all week long,” coach Elliott said of the onside try. “So we’re going to try to do those things just to make them have to work on it all the time. We saw that we could do it so we went ahead and tried for it.”
Sims ended the first quarter with another 8-yard scoring run. After being down one point for most of the first quarter, Lone Star found themselves in a 21-point hole after the last two minutes of the opening period as Celina led 27-6.
After an explosive start to the game, the Rangers then struggled to get a groove on offense.
“I think primarily [Celina] attacked us physically,” Fuller said. “They were pressuring and we didn’t do a good job of picking it up.”
After Celina recovered a fumbled Lone Star kickoff return, sophomore quarterback Nathan Elliott put any doubts about the ankle he injured against Perryton to rest as he ran for an 8-yard touchdown.
Lone Star would get their last points of the game from sophomore kicker Cameron Scott as he hit a 35-yard field goal to make it a 34-9 contest at halftime.
At the break Celina held a ceremony honoring former head coach Butch Ford, who had won two state titles as a head coach and four consecutive titles as a defensive coordinator in his time in Celina. October 19, 2012 was deemed Butch Ford Day in Celina.
“It’s so special having him back,” coach Elliott said. “He’s been such a huge inspiration in my life, I’ve been so close to him since I was a kid. It means a lot for him to be here and for us to be able to honor him.”
In the second half, it was all Celina as junior halfback Connor Torbert scored on runs of 8 and 66 yards and Elliott threw a 17-yard score to sophomore halfback Nick Grant. Senior halfback Tommy Self scored from 40 yards out in the fourth quarter to put a bow on a Celina running attack that amassed over 500 yards and saw five different halfbacks score.
Elliott finished 9-of-17 for 117 yards and a touchdown while Torbert led the Bobcats on the ground with 82 yards on five attempts.
For Lone Star, Campbell would be the most productive offensive player, going 12-for-31 for 245 yards and two interceptions. The ground attack was led by Harris, who finished with 19 attempts for 93 yards and a touchdown. Stevens grabbed two passes for 90 yards while senior receiver Jordan Ruby had four catches for 93 yards.
“You have to correct the mistakes you make,” Fuller said. “We have to probably get some people well and see if we can be a little bit more physical.”
Celina will travel to Aubrey Friday for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
Lone Star’s path doesn’t get any easier as they host a 7 p.m. showdown with Argyle.
“When you suffer a big loss, you have to find out what kind of character you have and I think we have good character," Fuller said. "I think we will rebound. When you get beat, you have to get back off the ground.”
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