The Argyle Eagles mounted a massive second half run to take down the Celina Bobcats 41-29 after a frustrating first half in wet, chilly weather. After multiple long drives and takeaways, Argyle ended up on top 41-29 after being behind 22-13 at half time.

Celina started off hot, getting most of their yardage with QB sneaks by Nathan Elliot and Connor Pingleton to go along with a dominant performance by HB Jarren Alexander. On their opening drive Celina quickly drove the ball and scored on a touchdown by Elliot, followed by a rushing touchdown by Argyle’s feature back.

“The line played incredible,” RB Nick Ralston said. “This is the hardest the line has blocked since I’ve been here so I’m really proud of them.”

Celina consistently converted long 3rd down attempts while making big 4th down stops in the first half, running away to a frustrating 22-13 lead to end the first half, however the Eagles still went into the locker room confident thanks to encouraging words from their coaches.

“We have Coach Nanny and Coach Styron. They made really good adjustments at half time,” WR Drew Estrada said. “We read their coverage’s and our adjustments paid off.”

The Eagles came out with a vengeance in the second half, throwing deep passes to Estrada and feeding the ball to RB Gage McCook, who ran the ball three straight times for double digit gains. Ralston capped off the drive with a 20 yard touchdown to lift the Eagles to a 27-22 lead in the 3rd quarter.

“We got together and as a team we just got really pumped up,” RB Gage McCook said. “We just came out here and took it to them like we always do.”

Argyle never let up, as more touchdowns to Ralston and WR Hunter Markwardt kept the offense reeling to 41 total points.

“We responded well,” Ralston said. “We came out and ran it down their throat. The defense stopped them and made plays here in the end, and we were able to come out with a W.”

The players feel that they have Celina’s number based on today’s game and the games of recent years.

“I’ve beat them every time I’ve faced them,” Ralston said.  “They’re a really good team.”

Though they defeated Celina solidly this week, Argyle has another tough challenge next week in Graham, but the Eagles aren’t worried; they plan to use this week’s victory to motivate them for the rest of the season.

“Everybody did a really good job,” Estrada said. “It was just a team effort. The line did good, Cooper played really well, Nick is obviously a beast and all the receivers did their jobs. We got the win so I’m happy.”

Congratulations to Nick Ralston for winning The Talon News‘ MVP for the Celina vs Argyle game. Be sure to vote next week after the game against Graham.