Soccer: Kilgore Bulldogs edge Celina 1-0 in overtime in regional semifinal

Published 4:58 pm Saturday, March 29, 2025

SULPHUR SPRINGS — The Kilgore Bulldogs triumphed in the final two minutes of overtime with a clutch goal by Ethan Reyes in their Class 4A Division 1 Region 2 semifinal match against the Celina Bobcats on Friday night.

Kilgore battled not just a very well-prepared and athletic Celina team but the elements as well, as they were drenched with rain and often kicking against the wind. Starting goalkeepers, Eddie Jimenez for Kilgore, and Ryder Phillips for Celina, were kept on their toes the whole match and had multiple saves.

“I just had to have confidence in my teammates and trust myself,” said Jimenez about how he was able to deny Celina several chances to score. “I have confidence in myself that I had to do what I had to do. I just had to believe in myself and my teammates. They played hard, they gave good effort and they did what they had to do. And the result was what we wanted in the end.”

One of the most dramatic moments came in the last six seconds of regular time when Kilgore incurred an unlucky handball penalty, awarding Celina a shot at the goal. But Kilgore’s defense prevailed to send them into overtime.

“I was ready to die, just pass out right there,” laughed Kilgore’s Head Coach Hector Peralez about that handball penalty came at the worst possible moment.

When the team huddled together before OT, Peralez assured them that they were built for this and should just give it all they had.

“I told them to play for what’s on your shirt. I always tell them play for your community, play for your high school and don’t play for yourself. If you play for your community, you’re always going to play really hard. Once you play for yourself, you just don’t give the same effort,” said Peralez.

The first overtime round was scoreless, and as the clock hit two minutes to go in the second round, Kilgore got a corner kick which Reyes smoothly got into the right position to score on.

“[Celina] has nothing to hang their head on. That was a really intense game. But you know, that’s soccer, and someone has to lose,” added Peralez. He added that Kilgore’s backfield and midfield played with a lot of heart all game. “We did a really good job of rotation. A lot of times you just see the end result, but throughout the game there was a lot of people that stepped up and came in, and we weren’t as tired as they were tired. It was just our next man up stepping up.”

Kilgore will play the winner of the regional semifinal match between Pine Tree and Community in the regional final next week.