The Eagles suffered a defeat against the Celina Bobcats last Friday, Sept. 11.

The game took off when Celina received the opening kickoff. A few minutes afterwards, Celina ran the ball in for a touchdown and an extra point. With five minutes left in the first quarter, the Bobcats scored again. With the ball in the Eagle’s hands, Dane Ledford (2) and Drew Estrada (3) set up Gage McCook (5) for the Eagle’s first touchdown of the game with under two minutes left in the first quarter. The first quarter ended with the Eagles trailing Celina 14-7.

The second quarter began with an Eagle possession, but at the 28 yard line, the Bobcats intercepted the ball receiving possession of the ball. The interception lead to another Bobcat touchdown, but their 2 point conversion attempt failed when Dylan Sadler (4) picked up the ball and ran it into the end zone for 2 points for the Eagles. Colton Liggett (19) took down a Bobcat player, giving the Eagles possession of the ball, which lead to another touchdown by McCook. Celina regained possession of the ball but was not able to make a touchdown. About two minutes left in the second quarter, Eagles kept possession of the ball and scored a touchdown, but Celina came back with a TD at the half, making the score 26-15.

Commenting on the defense, senior Shane McKinney (42) attributed part of the problem to not “game tackle[ing] very well.”

The third quarter began and Celina’s Jarren Alexander (5) scored again to increase Celina’s lead. With about nine minutes in the game, the Eagles scored. The ball was in the Bobcats possession, but Shane McKinney (42) recovered the a fumble at the 39 yard line with about four minutes left in the third quarter, yet the score was still 33-22 with the Bobcats leading. The Eagles were unable to make the touchdown needed to lead. The Bobcats recovered the ball again, but with a sideline penalty against Celina that took the Bobcats back to the 13 yard line. Unfortunately, Bobcats’ Alexander scored again for the 5th time, ending the third quarter with the score of 39-22 with the Bobcats leading.

“We were just hitting him up high, and he was bouncing off of a lot of tackles,” Don Williams (30) said while explaining the challenges of keeping up with Celina’s Alexander.

The Eagles entered the fourth quarter trailing the Bobcats 39-22, but with about nine minutes left in the fourth quarter Taylor Sweatt (7) scored, followed by another touchdown by Cale Nanny (24) that ended the fourth quarter with the score of 46-36, giving the Eagles their first loss of the season with hopes that the season will turn around quickly with the upcoming game against Graham.

Not to be deterred from future victories, McKinney reiterated the team mantra, “One week at a time.”