Central Bobcats Hoping to End Season With Upset of Frenship

SAN ANGELO, TX — The Central Bobcats football team will end its season on the road against district-leading Frenship on Friday.

Even an upset win won’t be enough to push the Bobcats into the playoffs.

Despite massive improvements from last year, Central came up short in district by a combined 17 points in losses to Midland Legacy (42-36), Odessa Permian (31-29) and Midland High (56-47).

The Bobcats lost those same games by a combined 88 points last season.

Central snapped an 11-game district losing streak last week with its 23-13 win over Odessa High, continuing the improvement from last year’s one-win campaign.

The Bobcats (4-5 overall) will try to send the program into the offseason with a huge boost of momentum with a strong showing against Frenship (8-1, 4-0) at 7 p.m. Friday at Lowrey Field.

The Tigers may have the most dangerous offense Central has seen this year. They’re averaging 52 points per game, led by a dynamic passing attack.

Quarterback Holden Phillips has thrown for 3,523 yards and 43 touchdowns on 75% passing. He has two outstanding targets in Leyton Stone (57 catches, 1,203 yards and 21 TDs) and Chase Campbell (63-1,156, 15 TDs).

“It’s one of those games where, ‘Can we limit their big plays?’ Central head coach Mark Smith said. “They’ve got really good players and personnel. So can we control the football and do things to put ourselves in position to win?

“I think the first quarter in this game is going to be very important, not that it’s not important in other games, but particularly in this game to try and grab hold of game control early and not play at a stalemate or from behind.”

Central overcame a slight stumble last week after falling behind 7-0 against Odessa High before a lightning delay postponed the game to Saturday afternoon. 

The Bobcats then returned to the field and turned the ball over on their next two possessions.

They weathered the bad start to rally for their first district win since 2022.

“We had some uncharacteristic turnovers that kept us from pulling away,” Smith said. “But the defense continued to come back and respond, and the offense did a great job running the clock out and getting some first downs there at the end.”

Central junior running back Elijah Allen had 18 carries for 127 yards in what may have been his best performance of the season.

The Bobcats will be saying farewell to a senior class that has helped them close the gap on their district rivals.

“I think the foundation has been laid,” Smith said. “Obviously, we wanted to win more games, and this team is ready to do that. Sometimes you just have to take the steps. You have to crawl before you walk, walk before you run, and run before you sprint. And we’re on that path right now.

“An expectation to win was missing with the team when I got here in February. What it takes work habits-wise to be able to go out and practice day in and day out to have a chance to win was also not where it needed to be. And just team morale was not very high. I think all three of those are things we’ve improved on.”