Central Bobcats Focused on Task at Hand: Hurst L.D. Bell

SAN ANGELO, TX-- The Central Bobcats have weathered the storm of 2018 and are still in contention for a district championship.

However, heading into their second-ever meeting with Hurst Bell, the Bobcats are not deviating from the task at hand -- making playoffs.

“All the games are huge in district,” Central head coach Brent Davis said at his Monday press conference. “I don’t think we’ll have trouble with [focus]. We’re used to travel. We’re gonna get up for district games no matter who they are or what the situation is.”

A win on Friday would clinch a playoff berth for Central.

While Bell is winless in District 3-6A, if Bell were to win their final three games, it would give them a shot at a playoff berth. Davis feels Central should be ready for their best shot.

“They’re still in it,” Davis said. “Three games will usually get you in. If you’re 3-3, you’ll probably get in. So, they’re still fighting for the playoffs. We’re playing them at [their] home. It’s going to be a long trip for us. I’m sure they’ll be fired up and ready.”

Bell won the first meeting 28-6 in 1982.

As the story has seemingly been going into every game for Central this year, they’re undersized compared Bell. With that size, Davis expects Bell to grind out the game and try to limit Central’s possessions.

“They’ve got a good offense,” Davis said. “They’re quite a bit bigger than we are up front, but almost everybody we play is. I feel like they’re a grind-it-out kind of offense. I’m sure they’re going to try to do that and limit our touches. Defensively, they’re real similar to Richland as far as their scheme. But I think they’re a little more talented on defense than Richland was. So, it’s gonna be a big challenge for us.”

For the Bobcats, things are finally seeming to click across the board.

In district play, Central is rushing for 227 yards per game, throwing for 120.5 yards per game and have forced eight turnovers.

One of the reasons for that could be the offensive line regaining their continuity.

Prior to the season, Rowdy Garza transferred out of state, leaving Central with a hole to fill on the offensive line.

Through the first four district games, Central has not allowed a sack, proving that they have found their combination.

“I think they’ve come together nice,” Davis said. “It’s been a work in progress. We kinda tinkered with it for a while trying to find out the best combination with people playing certain positions We were moving people around. But I think we settled in on what we’re gonna do. Obviously, in week 7 or 8, whatever it is, you better figure it out.”

The Bobcats have also been helped by sophomore QB Malachi Brown embracing the spotlight over the last six games.

Since taking over in the third quarter of their week 2 game with Del Rio, Brown has rushed for 993 yards, thrown for 810 yards and accounted for 17 total touchdowns.

Last week, the sophomore broke a school record for most rushing yards in a game with 338 yards on 42 carries with a pair of rushing touchdowns to lead Central past Fort Worth Richland.

Davis said that was “without a doubt” the best game he’s seen the sophomore play.

“I mean, he set a school record rushing,” Davis added. “I thought he played great. Our plan was to try to run the ball, just based on what we saw on film and felt like that was the best chance to have success against Richland. We were trying to limit their snaps because of their quarterback and receivers… They had a lot of weapons on offense. We were worried about them.”

While Central ran the ball quite a bit in the win over Richland, Davis says the Bobcats may not always be a run-oriented team. The tenth year head coach also said the rushing performance was “very encouraging.”

“We were a running team against Richland, but I’m not sure we’re gonna be one every week,” Davis said. “We feel good about Malachi throwing the ball. We feel good about our receivers. We just take advantage of what we feel like we can during the game. I think we’ll still throw the ball quite a bit. We would like to be more balanced, but we’ll take what we can get.”

Also stepping up in that game was senior RB Sam Goodloe. In what was undeniably his best all-around game, the Reagan County transfer had 13 total touches for 97 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

“He’s been playing good,” Davis said of Goodloe. “He just hadn’t had a big rushing night, but we hadn’t fed him a whole bunch either. We’ve kinda done whatever we’ve felt was possible during the game to have success. Sometimes that’s giving Malachi a bunch of carries. Sometimes it’s giving [it to] our running back or throwing the ball.”

Central’s game with Bell is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Pennington Field in Bedford.