Celina assistant coach Nick York (right) coaches special teams during practice on Tuesday in Celina. York, in his first year at the school, is a former Gilmer Buckeyes football player and will go up against his old school in the Class 3A Division II playoffs on Friday. (Bill Spinks | Sherman Herald Democrat)

CELINA — One of Nick York’s biggest memories of facing Celina 11 years ago in the playoffs as a Gilmer football player was Celina’s sideline horn. Every time the Bobcats made a play — and on that night, there were very few of them — the horn would fill Richardson’s Eagle-Mustang Stadium with ear-splitting reverberations.

“Good Lord, I remember how loud that thing was,” York said.

Having coaches who attended an opposing high school is nothing new for Celina, with numerous alumni of historical rival Pilot Point on its football staff for years — including former head coach G.A. Moore and Butch Ford, as well as current head coach Bill Elliott.

First-year Bobcat assistant coach York is following a separate path to his own meeting with his alma mater.

York was on the other side of the football the only other time the Bobcats have faced Gilmer. In 2003, York was a senior as the Buckeyes jumped out to a huge lead and held off the Bobcats in the second half, 45-22, in the area round of the Class 3A Division II playoffs.

The loss ended Celina’s first two-year taste of 3A football in the area round for the second year in a row, coming off a state championship four-peat at the 2A level from 1998 to 2001 and a state-record 68-game winning streak that was snapped in 2002.

“When I was a junior, if we would’ve beat Daingerfield the week before, we would’ve played (Celina) when Daingerfield snapped the streak,” York said.

On Friday night at SMU’s Gerald J. Ford Stadium, the two powerhouse teams will clash for the first time since that 2003 meeting. This time, it’ll be for a berth in the 4A Division II championship game. And this time, York will be wearing orange.

“I’m fired up,” York said. “I can’t wait. It’s going to be a blast. My mom said she’s going to sit in the end zone so she doesn’t take one side or the other. All my old coaches are on staff there, and it’s weird when you’re breaking down film like you do every week and you look across and it’s your old coaches and they’re wearing the uniform you used to wear. It’s a little surreal, but it’s fun.”

Ever since the University Interscholastic League placed both teams in the same division last December, the Bobcats were anticipating the possibility of a Celina-Gilmer playoff. Finally, it’s here.

“Nobody’s counting us to have a chance,” Elliott said. “But you know, everybody’s got to play. There have been bigger upsets, and our kids are going to get after it and play. They’re going to play with a lot of heart and passion, and they’re going to execute well. That’s what you’ve got to do to beat a team like that.”

Eleven years ago, Gilmer led 17-0 at halftime and made it 31-0 quickly in the third quarter before Celina’s John Clark, then a junior quarterback and now a Bobcat staff mate of York’s, got the Bobcats on the board with three touchdown passes, two to Zach Babb and one to Andy May.

“The big thing we talked about was how hard Celina played,” York said. “We were all really impressed. A lot of times that year when we would blow somebody out, teams would start to fold and in the third and fourth quarter they’d kind of give up and you could tell you broke their will. When we played Celina, there was none of that happening. It was a constant fight, even when we were up by two or three touchdowns. We gained a lot of respect for them as a program, and that carries on.”

The Buckeyes, running a no-huddle spread exclusively, racked up 606 yards of total offense in the game. Among their stars was junior receiver Manuel Johnson, who had 10 catches for 173 yards and a TD.

Johnson, who moved to quarterback in 2004 and led Gilmer to a state championship, went on to become a standout receiver at Oklahoma and was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys, playing in two NFL games in 2010.

That 2003 season was the start of something special for the Buckeyes. Gilmer went to the state finals four times from 2004 to 2013, winning two titles (2004 and 2009) and finishing as runner-up twice. Three other times in that span, Gilmer’s loss was to the eventual state champion — Texarkana Liberty-Eylau in 2006, Carthage in 2008 and Argyle last season.

“Whenever Coach (Jeff) Traylor would talk to teams later on, he would say that we were the team that broke the barrier and raised the bar,” York said. “For a few years we were one-and-out and we were the team that got to the fourth round, and the next year we won the state title.”

York attended Oklahoma State, where he was a football equipment manager for five years, and was coaching at Omaha Paul Pewitt last season before getting the opportunity to come to Celina. York’s father, Steve, was Gilmer’s longtime trainer, and York learned from him, via Traylor, that Celina had an opening.

York had already accepted a promotion to head baseball coach at Pewitt, but jumped at the opportunity.

“Yes, you want to honor that commitment, but there’s a handful of schools in Texas where when they call, you have to listen,” said York, who coaches the outside receivers and kick return team and will assist new head baseball coach Jake Davis in the spring. “Celina’s one of the elite schools that you have to take advantage of (the opportunity). It was because of coach Traylor that I was able to get on here.”

The winner of tonight’s game will meet either West Orange-Stark or Sinton in the 4A Division II final at high noon on Dec. 19 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

Gilmer (14-0) is loaded with athletes, with running backs Kris Boyd and Blake Lynch both threats running and catching the football. Quarterback McLane Carter has passed for 40 touchdowns and only two interceptions all season, and the Buckeyes have five receivers — Lynch, Boyd, Chase Tate, Nick Smith and Quinn Fluellen — who have in excess of 500 yards.

Last week’s opponent, Sweetwater, also had a large number of outstanding players, and Celina (12-2) was able to prevail after rallying from a touchdown deficit in the final nine minutes.

“That was a pretty good warm-up for us for this game,” Elliott said. “You look at the skill kids that Sweetwater had, and the ones Gilmer has, there’s not a lot of difference. When you run a 4.4, you run a 4.4. One of their kids (Lynch) is a lot bigger, but it prepared us for seeing that speed and it’ll help us going into the game, I think.”

The thing that makes the Buckeyes doubly dangerous, though, is their talent level on defense and special teams, as well as their offense. If anybody would know, it would be York.

“They’re coached well and take a lot of pride in doing the small things right,” York said. “To have an advantage on them, you’ve got to bring your ‘A’ game and play mistake-free. If you don’t, they’ll expose you. It’s not just their offense scoring points — it’s punt returns for touchdowns, pick-sixes, stuff that’s all over the field. If you’re not doing it right that night, they’re going to make you pay for it.”