Defending state champion Celina takes down Decatur in regional round

The Decatur Eagles saw their 2025 season come to an end with a 33-7 loss to the defending state champion Celina Bobcats in a Class 4A Division I Region II semifinal Friday at Pennington Field.

Decatur head coach Steve Huff pointed to Celina’s size advantage and the Eagles’ failure to convert fourth downs as the keys in the contest.

“We knew Celina had a big size advantage on both sides of the ball,” Huff said. “And their physicality overpowered us all game.”

Decatur (8-4) was 0-for-5 on fourth-down conversion attempts, including three in the first half.

“I thought we were in good position to make some things happen in each of those instances,” Huff said. “But we just could not convert, and Celina then made the most of those missed opportunities.”

Celina workhorse Evan Koehne scored on a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs in the opening quarter that left Decatur with a 14-0 deficit. Both Celina drives came after Decatur failed to convert on fourth down.

Celina’s Jax Holt booted a 38-yard field goal with 2:11 left in the second period, culminating an 18-play, 78 yard drive that chewed 9:02 off the clock and stretched the Bobcats’ lead to 17-0.

Jake Milligan scored the Eagles’ lone touchdown — a 34-yard gallop — with one minute left in the second period to narrow the gap to 17-7.

However, LJ Taylor hauled in a 35-yard pass from backup quarterback Gaurav Muttasseril, which set up a 47-yard Holt field goal, leaving Decatur down 20-7 at intermission.

Celina standout quarterback Bowe Bentley, an Oklahoma pledge, was injured late in the first period and did not return.

Muttasseril picked up the slack, tossing a pair of third quarter 24-yard TDs — to Taylor with 8:45 left in the third quarter and then to Wyatt Villarreal with 4:40 remaining.

The teams played a scoreless fourth period.

Sophomore quarterback Rhys Ragan threw for 163 yards for Decatur, completing 13 of 22 passes, with two interceptions. Ragan had thrown for 35 TDs with just one pick entering the contest. Huff had high praise for his young signal-caller.

“Rhys did a phenomenal job this season,” said Huff, who is in his fourth season leading the program. “Could not have asked more out of him. And he was playing this game with an injured shoulder, but he was not gonna sit this one out. He is such a hard-nosed player.”

Coach Huff also noted a trio of seniors — his two running backs and a wide receiver — were instrumental in the team’s success this season and will be missed.

Jake Milligan and Jamari Fletcher shared the running back duties all season. Milligan had a team-high 61 rushing yards on 14 carries against Celina, while Fletcher added 32 on 10 attempts. Wideout Chase Berg grabbed a team-leading 69 receiving yards on five catches.

Decatur had beaten River Oaks Castleberry 63-14 in the bi-district round then ousted Paris 49-21 in the area round.

The Eagles fell to Aubrey 41-38 in last year’s area round, after reaching the state semifinals in 2023 and 2022.

Koehne carried the load for Celina, rushing for 180 yards on 32 carries. Taylor had a game-high seven catches for 129 yards for the Bobcats.

Muttasseril completed six of nine passes for 92 yards and the two scores subbing for the injured Bentley.

Celina (13-0), the top-ranked 4A Division I team in the state, will face Alvarado (12-0) in the regional final next week at a date, time and location to be determined. Alvarado defeated previously unbeaten Springtown 64-13 on Friday.

Celina beat Alvarado 55-21 in the regional final last season.

Seeking its 10th state championship, Celina won its 29th consecutive game, having pummeled Dallas Pinkston 77-0 and Fort Worth Eastern Hills 70-22 in the bi-district and area rounds, respectively.

This story was originally published November 28, 2025 at 6:40 PM.