Our first game of the Texas High School football quarterfinals features two of the best 4A-II teams in the state. Celina High School hosted the Aubrey Chaparrals at Apogee Stadium in Denton, Texas on a rather warm night for December. The Celina Bobcats come into this match up smoking hot and already beating Aubrey in the regular season.
Aubrey High School would start off with the ball but couldn’t get anything going on their first drive. Celina on the other hand was able to flip the field on their very first play with a deep connection with Collin Urich. This set the Bobcats up Troy Peterson to punch in the first touchdown of the night a few plays later.
Gabe Gayton would break off a 55-yard house call to extend the Bobcats lead to 17 with 1:06 left in the 1st quarter. Gayton wasn’t done there though. After Celina stopped Aubrey once again they started moving the ball down the field. Collin Urich came down with a 35-yard grab from Noah Bentley to get things really rolling on offense. One play later Gabe Gayton would bounce out a 35-yard touchdown run to make this a 24-0 game. They would end up holding that score through halftime.
The Bobcats came out of halftime just as strong. Near the end of the 3rd quarter Zach Veverka would intercept Semahj Brown and return it to the Chaparrals 37-yard line. A few plays later Gabe Gayton would put the bow on his night with a 20-yard rushing TD.
Gabe Gayton finished the night with 183 rushing yards and three touchdowns, and was easily the Player of the Game. Zach Veverka had a game high 15 tackles to go along with his interception. Senior Jedd Ubanoski also had himself an interception.
Next week Celina High School takes on Gilmer High School in the UIL 4A-II semi-finals. Gilmer is coming in hot as a 13-1 squad, and should be Celina’s toughest match-up yet. Be sure to check out our second game of our quarterfinals coverage as Southlake Carroll High School takes on Allen High School.
