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Kennedale stuns Celina, 10-6
BY ANDREW MAY, Staff Writer
JUSTIN -- Kennedale senior defensive back Lorenzo Fouts remembers it well. How could he not?
The Wildcats poured over the game tape with a fine-tooth comb this week, intent on not repeating the same mistakes that led to a 54-21 playoff loss to Celina last season. The film from Friday’s game might be a tad more fun to watch.
Behind two key plays from Fouts and a markedly-improved defense, Kennedale (11-1) shocked Celina, 10-6, in a Class 3A Division II area round game at Northwest ISD Stadium.
“Everybody’s been talking like Kennedale is nothing, that Celina is just going to roll over us. We had to come out here, show our pride and stick our head in the ground.”
Trailing 10-6 after getting on the board midway through the fourth quarter on a Daniel Mendoza touchdown, Celina (7-5) forced the only Wildcat turnover of the night, a fumble that was recovered by senior middle linebacker Caleb Lavey with 3:55 remaining in the game. But after moving the ball to the Kennedale 37-yard line, a botched handoff by the Bobcats was scooped up by Eric Bonner to complete a somewhat stunning victory.
Kennedale, which will play Pittsburg next week in the regional semifinals, only mounted 69 total yards of offense on the evening and ran 39 fewer plays from scrimmage.
“We were so frustrated offensively,” Richard Barrett, Kennedale head coach. “We just hung in there and kept believing.”
Thanks to Fouts, the Wildcat offense got a reprieve. The shifty senior intercepted a Cody Worrell pass late in the first quarter and returned it 60 yards to set up a 36-yard field goal by Zane Guadagnolo, the only points of the first half for either team.
All told, Kennedale had -2 yards in the first 24 minutes and only ran nine plays.
Fouts, who has played on varsity since his freshman season, provided the game-winning dagger in the third quarter when he returned a punt 55 yards down the left sideline to the end zone for a 10-0 lead. Amazingly, Kennedale still didn’t have a first down to this point. That was provided with less than three minutes to go in the third quarter when sophomore quarterback Steven Rivera scampered 11 yards on the first play of his team’s third drive of the half. But the Wildcats, who only attempted one pass in the game, were forced to punt for the fourth time.
Celina finally took advantage by driving 87 yards in 17 plays in a clock-bleeding drive that spanned nearly seven minutes. Mendoza plunged in from 1-yard out to tighten things up, but the Bobcat offense coughed the ball up on their next possession.
“Defense won us the game,” Barrett said. “It’s crazy. We just didn’t move the ball on them. That’s a credit to them, certainly nothing that we didn’t do. We feel fortunate we’re going to play again.”
Celina rushed for 176 yards in the game, but lost starting tailback Jose Romero to a left ankle injury in the second quarter after the junior was rolled up on from behind. He returned to the field on crutches after halftime. In his absence, Cody Sandler rushed for a game-high 72 yards and caught one pass for 30 yards. But the Bobcats weren’t able to produce any big plays, a key ingredient in the bi-district win over Van Alstyne.
The setback ends a 15-year streak of 10-win seasons for Celina, one year shy of the state record set by Corpus Christi Calallen.
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