Football: Wapakoneta wins rematch with Celina

CELINA — During Wapakoneta’s 28-7 regional semifinal win over Celina on Friday night, Blake Rogers caught a pair of touchdowns, returned a punt 54 yards for a touchdown and had a key pass breakup on Celina tight end Caleb Schlater in the second half.

The Details

Not bad for someone who almost didn’t come out for football this year.

When asked what phase of the game he loves to impact the most, Rogers said, “None of them. It’s just about being with my friends. That’s all it’s all about, being out here with all my brothers.”

In a rematch of a Week 2 game that Celina gutted out for a 7-6 victory, Wapakoneta had all the fun on Friday, scoring twice in the first quarter on a 2-yard pass from Daron Houser to Rogers, followed by Rogers’ punt return five minutes later.

“I just gave him a hug and told him I’m thankful he decided to play football this year,” Wapakoneta coach Travis Moyer said of Rogers. “Blake’s been nothing but a class act since he stepped into our program and has done great things for us. He really played well tonight, and he’s done so all year long.”

Wapakoneta scored the first 28 points of the night, forced a pair of turnovers and limited Celina to 210 yards of total offense. The Redskins also received a boost from the return of Western Buckeye League Defensive Player of the Year and quarterback Houser, who played for the first time since a Week 10 win over Bath on Oct. 23.”It’s just such a blessing to be back out there. I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” Houser said after accounting for 223 yards and three touchdowns. “Our goals continue to stay the same, be 1-0 at the end of the week, and we’ve continued to do that. I’m just so blessed to be able do that with these guys.”

Houser and the Redskins broke the game open midway through the third quarter when he found Rogers on a screen, and the wide receiver tip-toed his way down the home sideline for a 40-yard touchdown. Wapak’s defense then forced two turnovers on downs to end the quarter, and Houser put the game away with a short TD run in the fourth quarter.

Celina quarterback Jett Warner, who played under duress all night, was sacked three times and threw his fourth interception of the season. The sophomore quarterback ended the night with 101 passing yards and 60 yards on the ground with his team’s lone touchdown on a QB sneak in the fourth quarter.

“T hey’re an extremely difficult team to defend for the fact they have a dual-threat quarterback,” Moyer said of Celina. “They can stretch it vertically and horizontally, and they’re very good up front, so really credit our defense for playing with great tenacity and a warrior mentality.

Our staff put together a great game plan, and our kids went out and executed it.”

Celina ends its season at 10-2, while

Wapakoneta, now 9-3 after starting the season 1-3, moves on to face Ontario next week at a neutral sight to be announced this weekend. The Warriors (11-1) got a 38-21 win over St. Marys on Friday night.

“O ur kids are extremely resilient. It was a hard first month of the season for our program,” Moyer said. “At the end of the day, it was the guys in that room that stayed together. You’ve really got to credit our seniors for their leadership throughout the entire season.

“So many times we talk about football and what it means later in life because it’s these life lessons that carry on with you for the rest of your life. When things don’t look very good, and you just have to keep working and keep grinding to find a way and be successful. Really credit our kids and our coaches for staying together and finding a way.”

• Scoring summary
• W 14 0 7 7 – 28
• C 0 0 0 7 – 7
• First quarter

W — Blake Rogers 2-yard pass from Daron Houser (Drew Niekamp kick) — 7:35 W — Blake Rogers 54-yard punt return (Drew Niekamp kick) — 2:59 Third quarter W — Blake Rogers 40-yard pass from Daron Houser (Drew Niekamp kick) — 7:32 Fourth quarter W — Daron Houser 7-yard run (Drew Niekamp kick) — 9:42 C — Jett Warner 1-yard run (Bridon Jeffries kick) — 8:52 Passing Daron Houser (W) — 8/14 130 yards, 2 TDs; 19 carries, 93 yards, TD Jett Warner (C) — 11/25 101 yards, INT; 11 carries, 60 yards, TD Rushing Gauge Vaughn (W) — 13 carries, 75 yards Noah Talmadge (C) — 11 carries, 49 yards Receiving Blake Rogers (W) — 4 receptions, 58 yards, 2 TDs Caleb Schlater (C) — 3 receptions, 32 yards Total yards Wapakoneta — 306 Celina — 210 Records Wapakoneta 9-3; Celina 10-2 Featured Local Savings