SAN ANGELO, TX-- The Central Bobcats kicked off their highly anticipated 2018 season with their first practice of fall camp on Monday.
The Bobcats appeared to have picked up where they left off after spring practice, according to head coach Brent Davis, who enters into his 10th year at Central.
“We got out here quick today,” Davis said. “[The team] came back in really good shape and kind of picked right up. That may be the best first day we’ve ever had.”
The 2018 season will be unfamiliar territory for the Central Bobcats. Everyone knows how the UIL’s realignment shifted the Bobcats east to Dallas-Fort Worth along with Abilene.
With the unfamiliarity the Bobcats have with their district opponents and a Class 6A power Euless Trinity staring down the Bobcats, a start like Davis said the Bobcats had is vital to challenging for a sixth-straight district championship.
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“It’s going to be huge,” Davis reiterated. “It’s all new. We know a lot about Abilene High, but we don’t know anything about the rest of those teams.”
Davis would go on to say, “I’ve never played any of them in my career,” and that the Bobcats will “figure them out.”
“I know it’s going to be good, it’s going to be tough, it’s going to be exciting,” Davis added. “We’re just approaching this like ‘Hey, we’re five-time district champs in the old district’ and we’re just going to try to continue that on.”
The Bobcat’s biggest challenge early in the season could come from inside their own camp with a young defense.
“Defensively, we’re young. We’re really young,” Davis said. “We’ve got some kids who play well, but not a lot with experience. That’s the one side of the ball that we’ve really got to figure out and get better and hopefully, by the time we get to Weatherford, we’ll be where we want to be.”
On the other hand, the Bobcats return a star-studded offense highlighted by Texas Tech commit Maverick McIvor, four offensive linemen returning and Philip Lupton and Jackson Timme, two of their inside receivers from last year.
“Offensively, I feel good,” Davis said. “We’ve got a bunch of those guys back.”
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The Bobcats return running back Bobby Pena for his junior year and get touted running back Sam Goodloe III from Reagan County. Having a ground game not centered around McIvor should open up the Bobcat’s passing game.
Helping get that run game going will be the returning offensive line of Gunner Couch, Rowdy Garza, Kurt Klausner and Oscar Nino. Those four are highly regarded by the Central coaching staff.
But the Bobcats have to develop two new wide outs with the departure of Henry Teeter and Jesse Scott. Tanner Dabbert and Christian Gabaldon look to fill that role. With the pass-centric nature of the Bobcat’s offense, having a deep threat receiver is a must for Central.
“Our two wides are new, but they looked good today,” Davis said. “It’s a big part of our offense. The big ball, the deep ball, the fade is a big part of what we do. I think we have two guys that are going to get it done. They both played on the JV last year and both of them had a great spring. They looked really good today.”
The Bobcats will host “Meet the Bobcats” at 5:30 p.m. this Saturday, Aug. 18. Central’s first scrimmage will be at 11 a.m. the following Friday at San Angelo Stadium before opening up the 2018 campaign at home against Killeen Shoemaker on Aug. 31.
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