McIvor Goes Down, Defense Shines in Bobcat's Dominant Win in Del Rio

DEL RIO, TX-- The Central Bobcats were explosive in their 49-3 win over the Del Rio Rams on Friday.

Central’s defense bought their offense time to get the wheels moving in this game, holding Del Rio to just 125 yards of total offense.

After a bad snap and a fumble by the Bobcats in the first quarter gave the ball to Del Rio in Central territory early. Guy Creamer found Anthony Maldonado for a 36-yard gain to Central’s 2 the very next play.

The Bobcats forced mistakes and incompletions by the Rams, which led to a chip shot field goal to put Del Rio up 3-0 in the first quarter.

“That definitely sent us for a little scare,” said wide receiver Philip Lupton. “Once we got our act together, we got going obviously.

Central head coach Brent Davis was pleased with his bend-never-break defense after gifting the Rams a favorable possession.

“We held them to 3 points,” Davis said. “Anytime you do that in 6A football, that’s a big deal.”

WATCH: Coach Bent Davis on the game, McIvor.
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Central then rattled off 49 points unanswered.

Daylon Green led the way for that stout defense by making play after play in the backfield.

The Bobcats also forced four fumbles, each of which they recovered.

Looking to replicate wide receiver Jackson Timme’s performance last week, Philip Lupton snagged seven passes for 124 yards and a pair of scores in the win.

“He played well,” Davis said. “I thought all of our guys did. You know, we kind of had a slow start. It’s just part of being young. You’ve gotta get out there and get in the flow of it. Once we did, I thought everybody on the offense and the defense and our special teams...was excellent also.”

Overall, Central threw for 292 yards and rushed for 184 in the win.

Sam Goodloe posted 48 rushing yards for the Bobcats to lead the team.

Getting the rushing game going was a big deal to free up the often targeted receivers in Central’s pass heavy offense according to Lupton.

“Anytime you can get your passing game and your run game going, you’ve got the world wide open,” Lupton said.

However, those numbers came with a price as senior quarterback Maverick McIvor went down injured in the third quarter. The senior quarterback was hurt at the end of a 16-yard scamper to get to Del Rio’s 4.

Davis said they do not know McIvor’s status at this moment, but Davis did say it was a knee injury.

“We’re just gonna have to get back to San Angelo and tomorrow we’re gonna go get it checked out,” Davis added. “But right now, we just don’t know...It’s deflating, yeah. He’s a Division I quarterback. He’s the leader of this football team without a doubt.”  

Replacing McIvor was Malachi Brown, who plunged into the endzone the very next play. Miles Houser’s PAT made it 35-3.

“He’s just a sophomore, you know,” Davis said. “I thought he played really well. He doesn’t usually rep there for us, really at all, because he’s a slot receiver for us. Going in there and leading us to a couple more touchdowns, that’s a heck of a deal for him. We’ll just have to see where it goes.”

The sophomore rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown while throwing for 48 in the win.

Central improves to 2-0 and will travel to face Cedar Park next Friday.

End of Game Wrap-up