Central Puts Home Streak on the Line in Opener With Scrappy Killeen Shoemaker

SAN ANGELO, TX-- They say time flies when you’re having fun.

Winning is fun. Just ask Central’s head coach Brent Davis, whose Bobcats have gone 55-8 over the last five seasons.

“It always seems to come faster every year,,” Davis said of opening week. “But, you know, we had a great two-a-days and had a great scrimmage, I felt like, against Abilene Cooper. Of course, we’ve got to prep, we have a week to prep, but I feel good about where we’re at.”

As is the case each year heading into week 1, there are plenty of areas of concern for Davis and his staff.

“I mean we’ve got several kids who have never done it on a Friday night in San Angelo Stadium with 10,000 people out there,” Davis said. “So, yeah, we’re concerned about being nervous, making nervous mistakes. Usually your first game comes down to mistakes and special teams. In my experience, if you can win the mistakes and the special teams, you’re probably going to win.”

Through fall camp, Davis praised his young defense for the progress they’ve made in getting prepared for a tough 2018 season. Heading into their season opener against Killeen Shoemaker, Davis won’t waiver from that praise.

“We’re kind of a work in progress there because we’ve got so many young guys that haven’t played varsity,” Davis said of the defense. “But, you know, they’ve come along fast. I felt like we played really well against Abilene Cooper. We have some things to fix like any team, but I feel a lot better about that side of the ball than I did in the spring.”

Davis also feels as though his team has “more team speed” defensively.

The Bobcats feel a little more at ease opening at home. Over the last five seasons, San Angelo Stadium has been a fortress for the Bobcats, who haven’t lost a regular season home game in their last 23. That streak dates back to the start of the 2013 season. They are 28-1 in all games played at home over the last five years. The lone loss was in their 2016 Regional Semifinal against Allen.

“We play great here,” Davis said. “We’ve had a really nice run here at home and any time we play here, it’s a big advantage. Not only because we’re comfortable here, but our fanbase...We’ve got this place rocking most of the time. It’s a big home field advantage for us. We love playing here.”

If 2017’s barnburner between the Grey Wolves and the Bobcats was any indication, a solid defensive showing will be a welcome sight at San Angelo Stadium. Central beat Shoemaker 52-42 in Killeen last season.

Heading into that game, Shoemaker was still trying to find an offensive scheme that worked. Davis said it appears the Grey Wolves have settled into a spread scheme, rather than resorting to the under center look they threw at Central last year. Davis said Shoemaker looks to throw the ball about half of the time.

“I feel like we’ve got a good defensive plan for [Shoemaker],” Davis added. “But they’ve got the kind of athletes that, if you have one missed assignment or one guy trips or whatever, they can make a homerun on you in a hurry. So, I don’t know how we’re going to prepare for that, but we’re going to get to the football...We probably won’t play a team faster than these guys.”

The scheduling of the team that almost shockingly ended Central’s run at another perfect season was intentional.

“I want to play a team like this because this is what we’re going to see in district and the playoffs,” Davis reasoned.

While the scrimmage against Abilene Cooper showed a lot of good things for the Bobcats, a plethora of turnovers were present. Eliminating turnovers against a scrappy Shoemaker squad is a big key for Central in week 1.

“We had way too many turnovers against Cooper,” Davis said. “That’s not us...In the past, we haven’t been a team that turns it over very much. So, we’ve got to sure that up and I feel like, if we do, we’ll have a shot at them.”

In 2017, then-junior quarterback Maverick McIvor stole the show with 373 of Central’s 448 total yards of offense and six touchdowns. A lion’s share of that yardage came on the ground for McIvor.

“He shouldered a lot of the load for us last year, especially in our Shoemaker game,” Davis said.

Entering play, the Bobcats hope their 1-2 punch of Bobby Pena and Sam Goodloe can ease McIvors burden.

“Bobby’s a solid running back,” Davis said. “Bobby’s not a flash guy, but he’s solid. I call him a first down running back. He knows where the sticks are and we always talk about first downs turn into touchdowns.

“Sam, you know, has a bit more speed and more size,” Davis added of the Reagan County transfer. “I thought he played really well in the scrimmage. He showed his power...With those two, we’ve just got to stay healthy and hopefully we’ll have an improved running game from last year.”

While Central relies on the passing game a lot, Davis doesn’t want to be one trick team. That means evening out the touches between the rushing and passing attacks for Central.

“We don’t want to be 80% passing,” Davis said. “Even though we have Maverick, we still want to be balanced. We’re always going to take what they give us. We’re always going to try to take advantage of whatever set they’re in, but we’d like to get it more balanced if we could in the run game.”

Kickoff for Friday’s game is slated for 7:00 p.m. at San Angelo Stadium.