Brown, Houser's Late Heroics Lift Central Past Abilene

ABILENE, TX-- After a defensive second half, Central came out with a thrilling 17-14 win over Abilene thanks to Miles Houser’s 37-yard field goal as time expired.

The Bobcats looked to be in bad shape late in the fourth quarter, until they recovered an Abilene fumble at their own 2-yard line.

"We were yelling at our kids to let 'em score," Davis said, hoping to keep time on the clock for a comeback. "We were telling them to let 'em score because we thought they were going to just run [the clock] out. Right when we were screaming at 'em, that ball pops out."

Led by a poised Malachi Brown, Central marched 78 yards to get to Abilene's 20, well inside Houser's range. The sophomore was 2-of 4 passing for 20 yards while racking up 48 yards rushing on six carries.

"I realized it was going to come down to me when they got to the 30 at least," Houser said. "That's in my range. I knew it was time for me to go."

With 10 seconds on the clock and one timeout, Central ran one play to keep the ball on the left hash mark and run the time down. Central head coach Brent Davis used that final timeout with 2 seconds left and Houser trotted onto the field. He would eventually come back to the sideline when Abilene called their final timeout in an attempt to "ice" Central's newfound football star.

"We knew we were in [Houser's] range," a jubilant Davis said after the win. "We wanted to get the bal on the left hash, which we did. I had all the confidence, I really did. He's done that a bunch of times in practice. He's got a good leg. He's done a great job helping us."

Like most good kickers, Houser kept focused and "didn't overthink" the kick.

"I was thinking don't overthink it or you'll shank it," Houser said.

Central had just 308 yards of total offense in the rivalry win. Malachi Brown had 288 yards of total offense to his credit.

Bobby Pena opened the scoring with a 1-yard dive into the endzone in the first quarter to give Central a 6-0 lead. Miles Houser converted the extra-point to go up 7-0 with 1 minute, 20 seconds left in the quarter.

WATCH: San Angelo Central Head Coach Brent Davis:
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Abilene answered on their very next drive with Kallin Sipe threading a pass through a Central defender to the hands of Reese Pettijohn for the 5-yard touchdown pass. Ray Mouloungui’s extra-point was wide and Central still held a 7-6 lead with 9:30 left in the second quarter.

Abilene would take a slim 9-7 lead on a 21-yard field goal by Mouloungui with 3:39 left in the first half.

Listen: Halftime analysis with Sam Fowler

Abilene looked to be set to march down the field late in the half, but Esai Jaques fumbled at Central’s 43. Julian Potter scooped up the loose ball and ran 57 yards for the touchdown. Central led 14-9 at the half.

The two teams held through most of the second half until Sipe found Pettijohn once again to put Abilene up 15-14 with 8:05 left in the game.

The Eagles looked poised to score once again, but Xavier Carrillo fumbled on the two.

Central then marched to Abilene’s 20 where Miles Houser kicked a 37-yard field goal to win the game.

Central (5-2, 2-1) hosts Richland next week. Abilene also falls to 5-2 and 2-1 in District 3-6A.

Listen: End of Game analysis and a good description of the final minute of the game: