Bulldogs roll past Cougars

CELINA - The start of the game was a bit shaky for the Celina fans gathered for the Homecoming game against Van Wert.

But once the Bulldogs got rolling, all was well as Celina snapped a two-game losing streak in beating the Cougars 43-12 on Friday night at Celina Stadium.

The win moves the Bulldogs to 4-4 on the season and 4-3 in Western Buckeye League play. Van Wert drops to 0-8 on the season and 0-7 in the WBL.

"After playing the teams we played the past couple of weeks (Wapakoneta and St. Marys), it's nice to get back on the winning track and allow the kids to have some success," Celina coach Trent Temple said.

The Bulldogs gained 369 yards of offense in limiting Van Wert to just 86, with most of those yards coming in the first half when the Cougars scored their two touchdowns.

The first score was set up when Bret Schwieterman was picked off by Jacoby Kelly on the second play of the game. The Cougars appeared to have been stopped with a fourth-and-nine from the Celina 20, but quarterback Nate Place avoided being sacked and found a wide-open Evan Williams for the touchdown to make it 6-0 Van Wert.

Celina responded with a mix of Schwieterman and Ryan Harter running the ball mixed with a 25-yard Schwieterman to Kole Murlin pass to get to the Van Wert 2, where Harter scored the first of four touchdowns to give Celina the lead for good.

Harter scored his second score from a yard out on the first play of the second half. After an errant punt snap by Van Wert gave Celina the ball at the Cougar 5, Schwieterman threw his first touchdown pass of the season with a four-yard pitch-and-catch to Murlin to make it 21-6 with 8 1/2 minutes left in the half.

Van Wert, though, converted two fourth-and-long plays on its next series, the second being a 13-yard pass from Place to Nick Gutierrez with 4 1/2 minutes to play to make it 21-12.

"You can't afford to have blown coverages," Temple said. "We had some mixups in the secondary a couple of times. We stunted and got some pressure and let some guys uncovered. We responded (in the second half) and the kids played really well."

Celina answered again as Harter took the kickoff to the Van Wert 35. After a Harter four-yard gain, Schwieterman broke free for a 31-yard score to make it 28-12 at the half.

The second half was all Celina as Van Wert punted on its first three possessions, turned it over on downs on the fourth, and then ended their night when Ian Hawkins tackled Kelly in the end zone for a safety that trigged the mercy rule and a running clock for the final 4:51 of the game.

In the meantime Harter scored his third touchdown with 57 seconds left in the third quarter on two-yard run and then wrapped up his night with a one-yard burst with 8:47 left to play.

Schwieterman rushed for 142 yards on 23 carries and was 5-for-9 passing for 86 yards. Four of the passes went to Murlin for 74 yards. Harter added 101 yards on 18 carries.

"We knew coming in they would try and stop the run and make us throw the ball," Temple said. "We were able to throw the ball a little bit and keep them honest."

Place was 7-of-12 for 63 yards with the two touchdowns. Van Wert was limited to just 23 yards rushing.

Celina wraps up the home portion of the schedule next Friday when Shawnee comes to town.