BY JACK WALKER

SPECIAL TO THE HERALD DEMOCRAT

LITTLE ELM -- The Van Alstyne Panthers saw their undefeated season come to an end on Friday night as Celina won its 16th consecutive bi-district championship with a 35-14 win over Van Alstyne in a Class 3A Division II Region II game at the Little Elm Athletic Complex.

Celina (7-4) gave the Panthers a lesson in playoff football, winning the battle on the line of scrimmage and used two big plays to give head coach Butch Ford his 100th career victory.

Van Alstyne (10-1) could not capitalize on an early break and its running game was stymied by a Bobcat defense that limited the Panther ground game to just 39 yards.

Patrick Presley jumped on a Celina fumble on the opening kickoff, giving Van Alstyne field position at the Celina 28-yard line. After a pick up of 10 yards on its first play from scrimmage, Van Alstyne was stopped at the Bobcat six-yard line.

Celina drove 94 yards in 10 plays, scoring on a three-yard pass from Cody Worrell to Cody Sandler. Worrell finished with 157 yards passing and ran for 66 more.

Early in the second quarter Celina moved the ball to midfield and Van Alstyne got another break when Solomon Biscarro intercepted a Worrell pass at the Bobcat 45-yard line. Again the Celina defense stiffened, forcing a Van Alstyne punt that was a touchback.

Taking over at its own 20, Celina got its first big play of the night when Worrell connected with Jose Romero on a 76-yard touchdown. Romero bobbled the ball but pulled it in for the second score of the night.

"It was a rub play and I got open in the flat and Cody got it to me," Romero said. "I juggled it a little but then I was able to outrun their guy for the score."

Van Alstyne came right back to get its first score of the night as Chris Burge hit Chance Grayson on a 16-yard pass and Burge's kick made it a 14-7 game with 2:20 left in the half.

It took Celina just 15 seconds to answer as Daniel Mendoza fielded the Panther kickoff at the 12-yard line and raced 88 yards for a back-breaking touchdown.

"The kickoff return after our first score was a big momentum boost for them," Van Alstyne head coach Mikeal Miller said. "It's just something that good football teams do."

Van Alstyne received the second half kick-off and put together an 85-yard drive for its second score. A 28-yard pass from Burge to Tanner Neill and a 40-yard pass to Grayson were the big plays in the march. Grayson got the score on a six-yard catch.

Celina came right back with an impressive 62-yard march, converting three third-down plays and finishing it with a one-yard scoring run by Jamarick Simmons to get its lead back to two touchdowns. Celina's final touchdown came midway through the fourth quarter as Romero scored from 22 yards out to lock up the playoff win.