Small Texas town represented by two OSU defensive starters
Published: 1/1/2012 9:23 PM
Last Modified: 1/1/2012 9:23 PM
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Celina, Texas, is a small town of about 5,000, located a few miles north of Dallas.
Even considering that Celina High School has an excellent football program (eight state championships since 1974), what are the odds that two former Celina Bobcats would be starters on the same defense that helped Oklahoma State capture the Big 12 championship?
Cowboy senior defensive end Jamie Blatnick, whose college career ends with Monday’s Fiesta Bowl contest against Stanford, and sophomore middle linebacker Caleb Lavey are Celina natives.
“I know the majority of the town watches (OSU) games, because I get text messages about everything,” said Blatnick, an All-Big 12 first-team selection. “They’ve got two orange teams they can root for now – Celina and Oklahoma State. When I was driving home, going down (Texas Hwy. 289), I saw some OSU flags in people’s yards.”
When Blatnick was a senior at Celina High School, Lavey was a freshman member of the Bobcat varsity team.
“He looked very close to the way he looks now,” Blatnick recalled. “He does have a phenomenal work ethic. When he played for us as a freshman in high school, I said he (had the potential to play major-college football). I didn’t know it would be here with me.”
An academic star, Blatnick signed with Oklahoma State after having been recruited also by TCU, Texas Tech and Duke. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Lavey was extremely heavily recruited. Before signing with the Cowboys – and after having been aggressively recruited by Blatnick – he had scholarship offers from Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, TCU, Penn State and Miami (Fla.).
“Oh, yeah. I was on him all the time. I told him that (Stillwater) was like a big Celina – it revolves around the team,” Blatnick said. “(Stillwater) is a good town with nice people and good fans, and you’re far enough from home where you can go home easily but your mom won’t just stop by and visit.”
-- Bill Haisten
Written by
Bill Haisten
Sports Writer
