Saturday, September 3rd, 2022
Putting things together
Celina has big second half to pick up first victory of season
By Gary R. Rasberry
Photo by Jason Snyder/The Daily Standard
Celina's Caleb Gabes (1) intercepts a Shawnee pass during the fourth quarter of Friday's WBL game at Celina Stadium. The interception was followed by a game-ending drive to give the Bulldogs a 19-10 win for their first victory of the season.
CELINA - Throughout the season, Celina football coach Brennen Bader said his team needed to survive the rough spots to make headway.
That came to fruition against Shawnee after a high punt snap in first half led to the Indians taking a 10-7 halftime lead.
But the second half was all Celina, as Landen Ackley and Zander Jones scored touchdowns and the defense made some big plays to give the Bulldogs their first win of the season 19-10 at Celina Stadium in a Western Buckeye League football game on Friday night.
"Just a good team win," said Bader. "These kids deserved to win, and hopefully there's many more to come, but it starts with one."
Shawnee got the ball to start the game and after a good return of the kickoff, ran the ball 10 times to cover 51 yards with Chase Beery running in the final seven yards to give the Indians a 7-0 lead near the midway point of the opening quarter.
Celina quickly responded. Nick Adams hit Braylon Gabes for a 20-yard strike to get past midfield, then Jones and Ackley handled the running, with Jones breaking free for a 20-yard run to the end zone to tie the game with 3:48 left in the quarter.
The Bulldogs looked to gain momentum by stopping the Indians at the Celina 47 and forcing a punt. Celina managed to get up to its 37, but on a punt, a high snap cost Celina 18 yards to set up Shawnee in the red zone at the 19. Celina's defense made a stand, forcing Shawnee to settle for a Tyler Kimmet 33-yard field goal with just under seven minutes left in the half.
Celina took advantage of a pass interference call to get to midfield, but could go no further and punted to the Shawnee 20. The Indians lost the ball on a fumble at their 24, but Celina was unable to take advantage, leaving the score 10-7 at the half.
The second half started out slow for Celina as a holding call negated a solid pass to midfield and forced a punt, but Celina's defense began to put some pressure on the Shawnee offense, forcing a punt at the Shawnee 37. The return gave Celina first-and-10 from the Shawnee 30, where seven plays later, Ackley punched in from a yard out to give Celina a 13-10 lead after the missed PAT.
Shawnee tried to answer quickly, moving the ball before getting held up at the Bulldog 21. Kimmet came out to try a 37-yard field goal, but a bad hold forced Kimmet to try to run the ball, then he attempted an underhanded pass that went right into the hands of Celina's Caleb Gabes, who ran it back to the Shawnee 21 with 21 seconds remaining in the third.
Photo by Jason Snyder/The Daily Standard
Celina's Zander Jones reaches the end zone for his second touchdown of the night.
Celina got an easy first down on a Shawnee offsides, then Ackley got Celina to the Indians 2, where Zander Jones punched in his second score of the night to make it 19-10.
The Indians' next chance to rally was stopped when quarterback Dominic Lynch fumbled, with Tucker Ackley getting the pigskin to set up Celina at the Shawnee 32. The Bulldogs could not move the ball before Adams was picked off by Garrett Looney to give Shawnee the ball at the Celina 46, but after a long incomplete pass, Lynch was picked off by Caleb Gabes again, giving Celina the ball at the Celina 11 with 6:01 remaining.
Photo by Jason Snyder/The Daily Standard
Celina's Jack Hassan (5) tries to deflect the pass of Shawnee's Dominic Lynch during Friday's WBL football game at Celina Stadium.
"We have smart players and they understand the situation," said Bader. "They know with six minutes left, Shawnee needs a quick score. Caleb went up and made a nice play."
Celina moved the ball, picking up a first down on an Adams scramble, but after stalling at the 31, the Bulldogs punted on a fourth-and-2. Zander Jones got the punt away to the Shawnee 38, but the Indians were called for running into the kicker, a five-yard penalty that gave Celina a first down. With the Indians out of timeouts, Celina got one more first down to run out the clock.
"Our big challenge was playing 48 full minutes," said Bader. "I was happy that in the second half, we had some adversity, but we overcame it."
Celina (1-2, 1-1 WBL) takes its first road trip of the season next Friday with a road trip to Elida.
