SAN ANGELO, TX—Spring football practices are a chance for upperclassmen to shape their craft and a time for younger players to prove their worth to a coaching staff.
The Central Bobcats are into their third day of just that.
“We’re all getting better,” said Central head football coach Brent Davis. “We’re seeing improvement each day, which is what we need to do. We’ve got a bunch of young kids that played [junior varsity] football last year. They’ve just got to step up and grow up. We’re seeing some of that.”
Davis would go on to mention Central’s strong offensive line with 280-pounders Gunner Couch and Rowdy Garza returning for their senior year to anchor the front line for the Bobcat offense. Couch and Garza have slowly started to catch the eyes of college coaches with their offseason work.
Davis also mentioned the depleted receiving corps which saw the departure of their top three pass catchers Jesse Scott, Jaden Coates and Henry Teeter. That trio combined to catch 187 passes for 2,754 yards and 33 touchdowns for the Bobcats in 2017.
“A couple of our wide-outs, [Christian] Gabaldon and [Adrian] Anene, are starting to step up and we need them to step up,” Davis praised.
The Bobcats also lost star linebacker Noah Gatton who led Central’s defense 129 tackles, 14 for a loss and five sacks last season.
Defensive tackles Malik Smith and Michael Neira are also graduating. The duo combined for eight sacks and 16 tackles for a loss in the Bobcats 11-1 campaign last year.
“We’ve got to find some linebackers,” Davis stressed. “We graduated one really good one. We’re trying to find that other spot. That’s a really big concern for us, linebacker and defensive tackle.”
Regardless of who is leaving, Davis and the Bobcats return their star quarterback Maverick McIvor for his senior season. In recent history, a starting quarterback returning for his senior season is not a luxury the Bobcats and Offensive Coordinator Kevin Crane have had.
“Most of the time they’ve been seniors,” Davis said.
Logan O’Brian started for the Bobcats in Davis’ first two years from 2009 to 2010 to lay the foundation of the Bobcat program everyone knows today.
Then Logan Sawyer took the reins for his senior year in 2011 where the Bobcats won their first outright district title in 25 years. Mickey Scott, a current Texas State baseball standout, was the signal caller for the Bobcats in his junior and senior seasons after that, beginning the streak of five consecutive district championships.
Following Scott’s departure came a highly touted senior out of Marble Falls named Brennen Wooten. After Wooten came Cal Vincent in 2016.
Even though Wooten was committed to TCU when he arrived to San Angelo, the hype and excitement that surrounded him doesn’t seem to compare to that of the 6-foot-3 McIvor.
“Having a guy back after a great junior year is a big plus for us,” Davis said of McIvor. “It’s all repetitions now. He knows [the offense]. He knows it well. He’s going to be the one that makes our offense go. Having a bunch of experience last year in our offense and the way he played is going to be a big plus for us.”
McIvor has accrued eight Division I offers following his junior campaign where he posted 4,300 total yards of offense and 52 touchdowns.
“You never know what’s going to happen. You’ve got to play it by ear,” McIvor said of the whirlwind process. “Tomorrow might be a different day from today. You just never know.”
Even with major colleges coming to court McIvor and junior day visits, the soon-to-be senior quarterback has maintained his focus on the task at hand: District 3-6A.
“You have to stay level headed,” McIvor said. “Being humble is a big part it, a big part of my game. I don’t like to be [the focus]. It’s just building blocks; getting better and better every day. Every practice we’re trying to make advancements.”
Davis commended his quarterback for taking everything in stride and said, “That’s the kid he is. He’s humble. He has his head on straight. He knows that this thing is bigger than him.”
With his leading receivers gone, the task of bettering the offense, from a player-to-player perspective, falls on McIvor’s shoulders, right where he wants it to fall.
“I love being a leader,” McIvor smiled. “If I could be the leader for any team, I would love to be, for sure. I’d rather have it on my shoulders rather than anybody else’s.”
The Bobcats continue spring practice until Friday, May 18, when they will have their annual spring game at 6 p.m. on the turf at San Angelo Stadium.
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