Couch's Senior Leadership Invaluable for Central Heading into Title Clash

SAN ANGELO, TX-- The Central Bobcats will take the field Friday for a chance at a sixth district championship and senior night.

Nobody on this current Bobcat team has played more games than senior center Gunner Couch. The 6-foot-3, 285-pound lineman has been a staple up front for Central since his freshman year. In Class 6A, especially at a school like Central with a freshman campus, it’s not exactly common for a freshman to make varsity, let alone start.

With a very good Fort Worth Haltom (9-0, 5-0) coming to town, his leadership will be invaluable up front.

“[Gunner’s] been in a whole bunch of high school football games and we’ve won most of those,” head coach Brent Davis said. “He’s a winner, he’s a leader and he’s a captain of this team. He leads by example. He’ll say something to somebody if he needs to and he always leads by example. So, he’s just the kinda kid you love having in your program.”

Friday night could be the last game at San Angelo Stadium for these seniors. If Central were to win, they would need Fort Worth Richland to knock off Euless Trinity to take the top seed in Division I for the district. Couch says he hasn’t thought about the possibility of it being his final game in San Angelo.

“I don’t look at it like that. I try not to at least,” Couch said. “I’m excited. I mean, yeah, there’s a chance this will be my last home game. That’ll be tough. But, I’ve had plenty of good ones here, you know. I’m gonna go out and give it my all.”

During Davis’ tenure at Central, only one other player, Gehrig Scott, has won four district championships. He did that from 2012 to 2016.

Doing that would be “awesome” for the anchor of Central’s offensive line.

“Four years [with] a piece of the district title, you know, that’s a good thing to accomplish,” Couch added. “Try to win this last game to get a piece of it would be a big deal, a huge accomplishment for me.”

In a season of ups and downs, peaks and valleys, Couch’s senior leadership has been invaluable for the Bobcats. His coaches and teammates recognize that.

“If we can find a way to get a piece of this district, that’ll be four in a row for Gunner,” Davis said. “He was on our varsity as a freshman. I don’t know a lot of people that can say that … That’s a pretty cool deal. Our team knows that. Our team wants to win this for Gunner more than anything else.”

With a smile, Couch said playing at San Angelo Stadium and preparing for these big games is “second nature” for him before turning the praise to his team like the humble young man he is.

“Like I said, I’ve played a couple games out here on this field, you know,” Couch grinned. “We have a young team this year, but they’ve matured a lot this year. It’s night and day, really. If we go out there and execute the game plan, we’ll get the job done.”

Central and Haltom are scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. kick off at San Angelo Stadium this Friday.