#18 Battle Of The Cats

Pilot Point vs. Celina. One of Texas best small-town football rivalries in the Great State of Texas. Certainly, from the 1970’s-90’s. Separated by only 12 miles via FM 455 the towns have many ties to each other. This game meant everything to these towns back in the day. Folks would be lined up standing room only style around the entire field when these two collided. It was a small town high school version of Texas vs Oklahoma. Pilot Point with the intimidating black uniforms and black helmets. Celina in their puce Orange. It was a match made in Halloween heaven.

I got my first taste of the rivalry my junior year in 1992 when we played Celina at home in PP. There was tremendous hype to that game as we were both powerhouses and I believe we were both ranked in the top 10 in the State. We were certainly up for defending our home turf though and dominated that game 36-3.

We knew it would be tougher in 1993. The game would be played in Celina and they were fighting for the right to continue their season. If we won, then Aubrey would represent our District as the 2nd place team. If we lost, then we would tie Celina for the District Championship. We had a 12-year District Championship streak on the line and wanted the 13th all to ourselves.

I can still remember the preparation we put into that game plan. The Coaching staffs knew each other very well and we understood Celina’s Coach, G.A. Moore, can call trick plays at any moment. We left no stone unturned as we practiced every possible scenario that week. Every on-sides kick, fumblerooski, and the Celina “Sic-em” 10-1 defense was all prepared for.

It wouldn’t come down to any trick plays in the end though. It was just a hard-fought game from beginning to end by two solid teams. Every play and every hit were magnified. Every yard was highly contested. Celina took the lead 7-0 early in the 2nd Qtr on 3-yard touchdown run by Elton Lott. I’m sure he’d tell you it was the toughest 3 yards he ever gained in his life. We responded right away capped by a 4-yard touchdown run by Derek Jones. We went into halftime down 7-6. I remember being in the locker room at halftime like it was yesterday. I expected the Coaches to be pissed as it was the first time I remember being down at halftime. However, everyone was extremely calm and our close games earlier in the season gave us confidence that we could pull this one out as well. Halftime adjustments were made and there was no panic. We did our job in the 2nd half and pulled away in the 4th Qtr winning 16-7. The Cardiac Cats came through yet again. We made our town proud and continued our District Championship streak.

So, with the victory over Celina we ended our 1993 regular season with a perfect 10-0 record. It wasn’t always easy, and it wasn’t always pretty,but we were effective. We felt really god about our defense and we had a lot of playoff experience among us. We were ready for some exciting playoff football in the weeks to come.

Go Bearcats,

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#18 Battle Of The Cats

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