A battle to the very end

CELINA - Celina football coach Brennen Bader succeeded with a play from his book of tricks early in Friday's Division III playoff game against Dayton Carroll.

But in the end, it was the Patriots who received the treat of a victory.

Fanuel Uwishimwe rushed for 133 yards and a touchdown and three other Patriots had rushing scores as Carroll ended the postseason for the Bulldogs in a 42-39 offensive slugfest at Celina Stadium.

Carroll (3-4) takes on defending state champion Trotwood-Madison next Friday in Trotwood. Celina, playing in the postseason for the first time since 2015 and in search of their first playoff win since 1998, drops to 3-4.

"We're extremely proud of the whole team, especially our seniors," said Bader. "They fought like crazy for 48 minutes."

The Bulldogs did not let the Carroll offense on the field for nearly three minutes into the game, but the Patriots controlled the ball when they did, holding possession for nearly 27 minutes.

Celina jumped out to a quick 13-0 lead. Getting the ball to start the game, Celina went 80 yards on five plays, with Cooper Jones hitting Brandon Staugler for a 29-yard score with 10:37 left in the opening quarter. Bader chose to go with an onside kick, which kicker Carter Altstaetter recovered at the Patriot 49. Five plays later, Jones called his own number for a six-yard run-in to make it 13-0.

Bader went with the onside kick again and this time Conner Altstaetter recovered for the Bulldogs at the Carroll 34, but Jones' attempt to go deep for another six was picked off in the end zone by Steven Chapman. Carroll mixed up passes from Ryan Chapman with runs by Uwishimwe to get to the Celina 3, where Andy Walker ran it in to get the Patriots on the board.

"We got off to a nice start with the onside kicks," said Bader. "We had an aggressive mindset going in.

"We saw something (on the scout tapes) earlier in the week, but we knew wanted to be aggressive and to go down and score right away. We scored right away and we thought we'd jump on it."

Celina bounced back with a five-plus-minute drive spanning 80 yards. Jaxson Silliman punched in from three yards out to to put Celina in front 20-7.

Carroll roared back to go 59 yards on 11 plays with Ryan Chapman hitting brother Steven for an 11-yard score with 5:10 remaining in the half. Celina punted on its next possession to put the Patriots at their 47. Ryan Chapman and Uwishimwe worked the yards to get to the Celina 13, where Uwishimwe scored on the next run with 57 seconds left in the half. Steven Chapman's PAT gave the Patriots a 21-20 lead going to the half.

"We couldn't get enough stops in the first half," said Bader. "They were scoring at will. Second half, we played a little better defensively,"

The teams traded punts to start the third quarter, but the Patriots increased its lead to 28-20 as the Chapmans connected again on a 48-yard scoring pass with 8:39 remaining in the quarter. Celina needed just one play to respond as Silliman broke free and rumbled 67 yards for the touchdown. The two-point try was no good, keeping Celina two points back.

Carroll was not deterred, clearing 73 yards on seven plays. This time, Ryan Chapman faked a pass to the right and broke left for a 30-yard run to make it 35-26. Celina closed out the third quarter with a big drive, converting two third downs and one fourth down along the way to go 80 yards with Silliman punching in from eight yards out. The two-point try was no-good, leaving Celina down 35-32 with 12 minutes remaining.

Carroll tried to run some time, but was forced to punt the ball to the Celina 17. The Bulldogs were able to get a first down at the 32, but Jones lost the ball at the 28 - just the second fumble the Bulldogs lost this season - as Elliot Braun got control. The Patriots were unable to take advantage as Ryan Chapman was picked off by Quinn Andrew - Andrew's fifth interception of the season - to end the threat, but the Bulldogs were forced to punt with the kick only getting to the Bulldog 40. Uwishimwe gained 38 yards on the first play and three plays later, Sam Severt scored from a yard out to make it a 10-point game with 2:49 remaining.

The Bulldogs were not ready to fold, however, as Jones hit his receivers to cover 61 yards on nine plays. Silliman scored his third touchdown of the night on an 11-yard tote to get the Bulldogs with three again with just 1:49 to play. The Celina defense then forced the Patriots to punt, giving Celina the ball back with 1:16 to play but without timeouts. The first three plays resulted in seven yards and Silliman was stopped for a loss on fourth-and-3 to give the Patriots the ball back to end the game.

"It was a great team effort. It was a shame we had to be on the short end of the stick this week," said Bader.

Silliman rushed for 206 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs. Jones was 12-for-24 for 150 yards with an interception. Staugler had seven catches for 84 yards.

Ryan Chapman was 16-of-22 for 194 yards with Steven Chapman making nine catches for 119 yards.

Although the playoff run is over, Bader and the Bulldogs are not ready to put the pads away this season and are looking to pick up a game or two.

"Everything's in limbo about what's going on next week or the week after," said Bader. "Our mindset is we want to still play some games. We'll see what happens."