San Angelo Central hopes to turn things around in playoff opener

It's a fresh start for the San Angelo Central High School football team, as the Bobcats open the playoffs with a Class 6A Division II bidistrict showdown on the road against El Paso Eastlake for the second straight year.

Central ended the regular season at 4-6 overall and 2-4 in District 2-6A following a 49-14 loss on the road against Abilene High last week. The Bobcats finished fourth in their district.

Meanwhile, Eastlake went 9-1 overall and 6-1 in 1-6A for a second-place finish behind EP Franklin. The Falcons blew out EP Coronado 35-3 at home last week.

Kickoff for Friday's game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Central time at the Socorro Activities Complex in El Paso. Radio coverage will be on KIXY 94.7-FM.

The winner faces either Byron Nelson or Weatherford in the area round next week.

This is the 12th straight season for Central to be in the postseason.

In order to keep their season alive, the Bobcats will need to play a lot stronger game than they did last week against Abilene.

"It was a tough game for us," Central head coach Kevin Crane said. "Obviously, Abilene High is a really good football team. They played well and they deserved to win the game. They played better than us.

"We just didn't execute very well on offense. We did some things well, but we just couldn't do it consistently enough. And obviously, defensively we had a hard time stopping their running back. He's a good player, and really, that quarterback, too. He played well and he was real accurate with the football when he was throwing it."

In Crane's first season as head coach, the Bobcats took their lumps as injuries mounted along the way.

The Bobcats are hoping they'll benefit from playing a tough schedule.

"I thought our district was much improved this year from last year," Crane said. "(Midland) Legacy was better, Permian was just as good, Frenship was better. Abilene High was much improved and Odessa High was much improved. I felt like our whole district was improved.

"We also played some good teams in nondistrict with (Austin) Vandegrift and (Amarillo) Tascosa. I do hope that helps us here in the playoffs and I hope we can go out to El Paso and play well and try to keep it going one week at a time."

Central starting quarterback Tyler Hill got hurt in the second quarter last week, and fellow junior Ben Imler went the rest of the way.

Hill is questionable for Friday's game and it could be a game-time decision, Crane said.

What happened in the regular season doesn't matter now, as long as the Bobcats have learned from their losses.

"We're 0-0, just like everybody else," Crane said. "Obviously, we wish we had a little more momentum going into this game than what we do, but it's a fresh start and we've got an opportunity here to go play a good Eastlake team and see what we can do. It's a do-or-die situation and I think our kids are excited about the opportunity to go play in a playoff game.

"Over 100 schools put up their pads and they don't get another opportunity. We can't wish it away. We've got to make the best of it. Hopefully, we go out there and play well. I know the last time we played out there, we traveled real well and played pretty good against Montwood (in a 34-29 win on Sept. 3) and we're going to have to do that again against Eastlake, which is playing some good football right now."

Central defeated Eastlake 54-35 in last year's playoff opener, but the Falcons look a lot stronger in 2021.

"They've got a really good running back (Elijah Uribe) who's a real strong runner. He's got good speed, but he's a powerful runner. A lot of people say he might be the best player in the city of El Paso, so that's saying quite a bit," Crane said.

"He was a junior last year and he had a pretty good game against us last year. Obviously, he's doing some good things this year as well. They move him around a lot. They play him at running back most of the time, but they'll play him at running back sometimes like a wildcat quarterback-type situation. And they also play him at receiver some."

Crane says Eastlake senior QB Sebastian Rendon (1,639 yards passing and 19 TDs) is also having a great season and he distributes the ball to a talented receiving corps.

"They've got a good team offensively,, and then defensively they're playing really well," Crane said. "They're getting to the ball and flying around and making a lot of tackles.

"The (defensive) front is really aggressive and they're real multiple on defense. They show quite a bit of different looks to their opponents. They're a good football team. You're not 9-1 for no reason."

The Bobcats know the formula for success. It's just a matter of execution and cutting down on mistakes.

"We've got to do the things it takes to win football games," the Central coach said. "It hasn't changed in 100 years. We've got to eliminate our penalties on both sides of the ball. We've got to take care of the ball and not turn it over, whether that's fumbles or interceptions.

"We've got to score in the red zone and then defensively we've got to tackle better and we've got to play better on third down. We've got to get off the field on third down. We're giving too many teams opportunities to stay on the field. That's what it takes to play winning football and our guys are well aware of it and we've done it at times."

Crane says the Bobcats must perform well on offense, defense and special teams, like they did in a 41-17 blowout at home against Midland High on Oct. 7.

Due to COVID, there were no fans in the stands for the Central-Eastlake showdown last year. Music was piped in to make things seem a little more normal.

That won't be the case Friday, as restrictions have been lifted in a stadium with a capacity of 11,000 fans.

"I enjoy playing in their stadium," Crane said. "Obviously, it's a long (400-mile) drive, but man, they treat us really well when we get there. It's a fun atmosphere and a fun stadium to play in. I expect it to be a good crowd and I think it'll be fun for our players and coaches."

Hill has thrown for 1,769 yards and nine touchdowns. He's been picked off seven times.

The Bobcats' QB has a team-high 777 yards rushing and nine TDs.

Running backs Bobby Navarrette (562 yards, 7 TDs) and Darius Floyd (436 yards, 7 TDs) are second and third, respectively.

Central's top receivers are: Jacob English (609 yards, 6 TDs); Trevor Scott (254 yards, 2 TDs); Keevon Rice (251 yards); Cayden Box (240 yards); and Jaedyn Gipson (224 yards, 1 TD).

Defensively, the Bobcats are led by: Ty Casey (74 tackles, 46 solos); Bryson McNutt (59 tackles, 40 solos); Jayden Limon (53 tackles, 30 solos); Jacoby Yates (50 tackles, 39 solos); Landon Cowley (44 tackles, 25 solos); and Austin Johnson (43 tackles, 25 solos).

Charles Bryce is a journalist covering sports in West Texas. Send him a news tip at cbryce@gannett.com. Consider supporting West Texas journalism with a subscription to GoSanAngelo.com.

This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: San Angelo Central hopes for turnaround in playoff opener vs. Eastlake