SAN ANGELO, TX-- The Central Bobcats (7-2, 4-1) can get a share of the District 3-6A championship this Friday if they can beat undefeated Fort Worth Haltom (9-0, 5-0).
The bad news is the Haltom Buffaloes have been dominant this season. Haltom has beaten teams by an average of 21 points in district play. Overall, Haltom have won their nine games by an average of roughly 28 points per game.
That dominance stems from their senior QB Michael Black. The senior has accounted for 2,749 of Haltom’s 4,253 yards of total offense. Black also has 35 total touchdowns in 2018.
“They’ve got a great quarterback,” Davis said. “He’s very explosive. It’s gonna be a tough challenge. … We gotta contain him. You have to. He’s the so-called straw that stirs the drink for them.”
The good news is Central is playing at home and had an extra week to heal and prepare for this game. Davis expects his team to feed off the crowd on the probably cold Friday night.
“It’ll be like a Friday night fall,” Davis added. “It’ll already be dark when we start warming up now that the time has changed. Kinda gives you a playoff atmosphere. This is kinda how it is when you play games in the playoffs. ... We’re excited. It’s little Bobcat night. We usually get a good crowd when we do that. We’ll have all those little Bobcats running on the field through the Bobcat head.”
How well Central plays at home can be attributed to the experience of the 30 seniors listed on Central’s roster.
“We’ve got some guys over there that have played a lot of football,” Davis said. “Daylon Green comes to mind. He’s played a lot of ball. Gunner Couch has played a lot of ball. If we can get a piece of the district title, that’ll be four in a row for Gunner.”
After losing to Euless Trinity on Oct. 5, however, it looked as though a district championship was out of reach for Central. They were battling injuries and suspensions at that time. But Central came out of that stretch of games much more the wiser.
“We had a lot of things going on at that time,” Davis said. “We were just trying to find ways [to win]. We had three district games in a row where we were short-handed. I just can’t say enough about how our football team came together. We had some young kids step up and play really well and gave us this opportunity.”
Being at full strength, minus the two season-ending injuries to the team, heading into their home game Friday is a major upside for Central.
“I think anytime we play at home it’s a big advantage for us. We’ve won a lot of games at home recently,” Davis said.
It’s also the first time Haltom has to travel outside of the metroplex. Davis hopes that could swing the advantage in Central’s favor.
“They haven’t been on a trip this year,” Davis added. “So, hopefully that’ll help us a bit. They’ve got a great football team.”
It’s the first time since 1997 that Haltom has won a district championship.
Davis feels his team matches up well size-wise against the Buffs. Yet, their scheme has led them to a 9-0 record heading into the final week.
To counteract their defense, Davis says the Bobcats need to have success through the air.
“What they really give you is an old 5-2 front because they walk [their linebackers] up so much,” Davis explained. “That can cause some problems, especially in your running game. They’ve got seven in the box a lot. We’re gonna have to get them to back out of that by having success in our throwing game.”
Central and Haltom are scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. kick off from San Angelo Stadium on Friday.
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