Wapakoneta’s Kaden Page runs with the ball ahead of Celina’s Wesley Greber during Friday’s game at Celina Stadium.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
CELINA – Wapakoneta came into Friday’s Western Buckeye League football game against Celina with the league title already in hand.
However, the Redskins wanted to put an exclamation point on its regular season with a perfect record.
Celina gave Wapakoneta (10-0, 9-0 WBL) all it could handle on Friday. However, the Redskins made the plays down the stretch to hold off Celina for a hard-fought 21-17 victory.
Despite Celina (6-4, 5-4 WBL) recording 385 offensive yards, Wapakoneta managed to close the door in the second half.
“Obviously, it was a slugfest between both teams,” Wapakoneta coach Travis Moyer said. “Celina is a very good football team, and they played exceptionally hard tonight. Give them a lot of credit for how they played tonight.
“But I thought our guys rose up when they needed to and made big plays. It wasn’t easy tonight by any means. We didn’t play our best football tonight, but we were able to find a way to win. We’ve always said that (winning) championships aren’t easy. … Well, undefeated seasons aren’t easy either. I really credit our kids on how they came out and battled.”
Celina led 10-7 by the end of the first quarter. Wapakoneta led 14-10 at the halftime break.
Celina regained the lead late in the third quarter, 17-14, on an 8-yard touchdown run by Parker Bertke (10 carries, 43 yards).
But Wapakoneta had a quick answer.
On the ensuing kick-off after Celina’s score, Wapakoneta’s Ryan Richardson ran it back 67 yards and set his team up at Celina’s 9-yard line. Quarterback Caleb Moyer, the coach’s son, wasted no time as he took the first snap from center and ran it in for the final score on the night.
Wapakoneta was able to hold off Celina down the stretch to secure the win.
Caleb Moyer completed 7 of 13 pass attempts for 151 yards and had a 67-yard touchdown pass to Kaden Page in the second quarter that gave the Redskins a 14-10 advantage.
Page was Moyer’s favorite target on Friday, making four catches for 114 yards and the one score.
Moyer also rushed for 51 yards on nine carries with a score. Jarrett Mullen led the Redskins with 61 rushing yards on 11 carries and a TD.
“Anytime you can get stops, and anytime you can hold a team to the points that we did tonight, that’s good,” Coach Moyer said. “Also, the turnovers were big. I really give our special teams credit. … Ryan Richardson’s kick-off return kind of got us going there again. (There were) just a lot of big plays when we needed them – a lot of momentum plays. So, I just really credit all our guys tonight.”
Quarterback Bobby Morris led Celina with 129 rushing yards on 19 carries. Morris had a 59-yard TD run in the first quarter. Morris was 16 of 24 passing for 150 yards with an interception. Kaiden Werntz caught six passes for 69 yards for Celina.
Jon Lutz added 63 yards rushing on 12 carries for the Bulldogs.
Karsyn Smalley kicked a 43-yard field goal for Celina in the first quarter that gave his team a 10-7 lead.
“I thought tonight, we lost the line of scrimmage a little bit – on both sides of the ball,” Coach Moyer said. “But, when we needed plays, we had guys step up and make plays for us. It was just a really gutsy effort tonight. I’m really proud of our program, and really proud that we can represent our school and our community.”
Moyer said he keeps things consistent.
“Our preparation is the same, whether it’s Week 1 or Week 10. Like I said, it wasn’t easy tonight, but we were able to find a way to win,” he said.
Wapakoneta will host a Division III, Region 12, first-round playoff game next Friday. Its opponent will be named later.
Score By Quarters
Wapakoneta 7 7 7 0 – 21
Celina 10 0 7 0 – 17
Scoring Summary
Wapakoneta – 22-yard run by Jarrett Mullen (kick by Ethan Eisert); first, 9:40
Celina – 59-yard run by Bobby Morris (kick by Karsyn Smalley); first, 8:43
Celina – 43-yard field goal by Karsyn Smalley; first, 2:20
Wapakoneta – 67-yard pass from Caleb Moyer to Kaden Page (kick by Ethan Eisert); second, 5:53
Celina – 8-yard run by Parker Bertke (kick by Karsyn Smalley); third, :52
Wapakoneta – 9-yard run by Caleb Moyer (kick by Ethan Eisert); third, :35
Wapakoneta Celina
112 Rushing Yards 235
151 Passing Yards 150
263 Total Yards 385
10 First Downs 18
7/13/0 Comp./Att./INT 16/24/1
0/0 Fumbles/Lost 1/1
2/10 Penalties/Yards 2/10
4/33 Punts/Average 1/59
Individual Statistics
Passing – Wapakoneta: Caleb Moyer – 7 of 13, 151 yards, 1 TD; Celina: Bobby Morris – 16 of 24, 150 yards, 1 INT
Receiving – Wapakoneta: Kaden Page – 4 catches, 114 yards, 1 TD; Celina: Kaiden Werntz – 6 catches, 69 yards
Rushing – Wapakoneta: Jarrett Mullen – 11 carries, 61 yards, 1 TD: Celina: Bobby Morris – 19 carries, 129 yards, 1 TD
