By KEVIN DONALDSON

Horizon Contributor

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated since appearing in print with results from Tuesday night’s game.

CELINA-The Celina K-8 junior high football team dropped its first game of the season to a strong Westmoreland team 16-12 here on homecoming last week, before rebounding with a 30-0 shutout of Jackson County Tuesday night to win the regular-season conference title.

The win over the team from Gainesboro moved the Jr. Dawgs to 6-1 on the season.

K-8 and Jackson County headed into Tuesday’s contest tied for the conference lead, with Monterey third and Red Boiling Springs fourth.

With the win, the Jr. Dawgs will host Red Boiling Springs Saturday, and Jackson County will host Monterey. 

The winners of the first-round playoff games will advance to the conference championship, set for Thursday, September 25 at Westmoreland.

Celina……………30

Jackson Co………0

The Jr. Dawgs put their big-play abilities on full display Tuesday night, topping Jackson County 30-0 and scoring on three plays that covered at least 70 yards.

Matthew Duke returned the opening kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown, and later scored on a 70-yard run in the second quarter. Sandwiched between those two scores was a 77-yard run by Kamron King.

Brogran Maxfield and Tucker Donaldson added two-point conversion runs to make the score 22-0 at intermission.

King hit Maysun Johnson for a 16-yard score in the third quarter, with Maxfield adding another conversion to account for the final score.

The Jr. Dawgs scored those 22 points in the first half by running only 10 offensive plays.

Saturday’s game against RBS will start at 6:30. The Jr. Dawgs beat RBS 38-0 in the regular season.

Westmoreland…16

Celina………………12

The Jr. Dawgs faced a tough, higher-classification Westmoreland squad last week on homecoming and battled back from a late 10-point to close the final margin. 

When Westmoreland took an 8-6 lead early in the second quarter, it was the first time K-8 had trailed all season long, and it was the first points they had given up in five-plus games. 

“For three quarters, we didn’t play our best game,” said K-8 coach Marty Maxfield. “I felt like we let several opportunities slip through our hands.

“Overall, I felt like our game plan was sound.  We proved that when we scored early in the first quarter,” Maxfield said.  “However, we let their running back break some big plays, and our offense got stagnant.  All that’s on me.  There were a few things I could have done differently that would have got us in better scoring opportunities, and limit theirs.”

The Jr. Dawgs received the opening kickoff and moved the ball down the field.  Matthew Duke ripped off an early 23-yard run, moving the ball into Eagle territory.  Westmoreland was flagged for a horse-collar tackle on the same play, giving the Jr. Dawgs the ball on the Eagle 25. 

Celina fumbled the ball on second down, though, and Westmoreland took over on their own 22.  Five plays later, the Jr. Dawgs took the ball back on an interception by Tucker Donaldson, who returned the ball to the Eagle 22. 

Duke rambled for another long gainer on a power run, with a push from his teammates, down to the Westmoreland one.  Quarterback Kameron King scored on a dive from there to make it 6-0, Jr. Dawgs.  The two-point conversion try failed.  That failed conversion would later prove to be important. 

The Eagles took over on their own 46 after a short kickoff, and moved the ball for a score in nine plays. Westmoreland had a couple of longer runs on the drive and survived a holding call to punch the ball into the end zone.  They converted the two-point try to take an 8-6 lead at the 6:40 mark of the second quarter. 

King had a 34-yard return on the ensuing kickoff.  The Jr. Dawgs moved for one first down on the drive, which ended with an incomplete pass on fourth down.  Maysun Johnson had a big tackle for loss on the next Eagle possession and Westmoreland punted the ball back to Celina.  The Jr. Dawgs couldn’t move the ball and punted it back to the Eagles. 

The half ended with a long Eagle pass being broken up by the Celina secondary. 

Eagles build 

on their lead

Westmoreland wasted no time in scoring as the third quarter started.  The Eagles returned the second-half kickoff 81 yards, and Westmoreland added another crucial two-point conversion to stretch their lead to 16-6.  The score would stay that way until late in the game. 

The Jr. Dawgs were flagged for four straight penalties at one point in the third quarter, with the fourth declined by the Eagles.  Both teams continued their tough defense and hard hitting in the second half, and each team had one offensive possession in the third quarter. 

Celina took over on their own 19 early in the fourth quarter, and went for it on fourth down, being down 10 points.  The Eagles held, and had the ball at the Jr. Dawg 16 midway through the quarter.  Westmoreland moved the ball to the Celina two, but the Jr. Dawg defense stiffened to stay in the game. 

Duke had a tackle for loss and the Jr. Dawgs had a group sack to aid in the defensive stand.  Celina wound up with the ball at their own 20, holding on downs.  Duke rambled for 10 yards, and then hauled in a big pass from King covering 40 yards. 

Celina took only three more plays to score.  Duke had a 15-yard run and two plays later, King scored from 14 yards out with under a minute left.  The conversion try failed, leaving the score 16-12. 

An onside kick try by the Jr. Dawgs failed and Westmoreland ran out the clock. 

“I felt like we showed who we are in the fourth quarter,” Maxfield said.  “I was very proud of how our team handled adversity.  Westmoreland was on our two-yard line and Coach G (Bobby Gillentine) made quick adjustments, and the boys bowed up and drove them back. 

“Then our offense put together an 80-yard scoring drive to bring us within four points,” Maxfield said.  “That took a lot of heart, and showed this team doesn’t quit.  The coaching staff and I are extremely proud of them.  We all need to learn from this and move on.”

Statistics

Offensively, King had 21 yards rushing (2 TDs) and a 40-yard pass to Duke, who also had 79 yards rushing to go along with the 40-yard reception.  Both Zaxtyn York (7 yds.) and Brogan Maxfield (1 yd.) also had carries. 

Defensively, Duke led the way with nine tackles, Johnson had eight, and both Maxfield and King made six stops each.

Johnathan Nagy and Rylan Hummel  each had four tackles; Jayce Keenan made three; Donaldson (INT), York, and Scotty Strong all had two stops; and Tate Kerr, Layne Mills, Aaden Mayberry made one tackle apiece.