San Angelo Central opens District 2-6A play with 28-25 win at Midland High

MIDLAND -- San Angelo Central High School quarterback Tyler Hill ran for 174 yards on just six carries and threw a pair of touchdown passes and middle linebacker Darius Floyd had 21 tackles, as the Bobcats opened District 2-6A play with a 28-25 nail-biter against Midland High at Astound Broadband Stadium on Friday night.

Hill connected with wide receiver Jacob English for a 39-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and he threw a 22-yard TD strike to wideout Keevon Rice in the second quarter. The Bobcat QB was 7 of 11 passing for 94 yards.

Trying to contain Midland's run-heavy Flexbone offense isn't easy, but the Bobcats were up to the challenge.

"You've got to give credit to coach (Joshua) Willis and his coaching staff," Central head coach Kevin Crane said of his defensive coordinator. "They spent two weeks prepping for this offense.

"They put together a great game plan and our kids executed it. We bent a little bit in between the (25-yard lines), but we did a pretty good job of stopping them down in the red zone and that really made a difference in the game."

Floyd, the quarterback of the defense, had 17 solos tackles. The 5-foot-9, 220-pounder had one tackle for loss and a fumble recovery.

Bobcats safety Colter Farmer registered 10.5 tackles (8 solos) and two tackles for losses, and linebacker Evan Arnold had 9.5 tackles (6 solos).

Defensive tackle James Burney caused two fumbles, and defensive end Andrew Gonzalez caused one.

Central improved to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in district. Midland dropped to 4-2 and 0-1.

The Bobcats will host Odessa High at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14 at San Angelo Stadium.

Central's other scores came on a 4-yard TD run by Aiden Barron and a 1-yard TD run run by Tyree Brawley.

"This was a good game and we knew coming in that Midland High was going to be a lot better team than they usually are," Hill said. "We also knew that they were going to stay on the field as long as they could and run the clock down.

"We knew that we didn't have many opportunities to score on offense, but we got the most out of it and executed it well and came out with the win, so it was good."

The Bobcats led 21-10 at the half, but the Bulldogs got within 21-18 early in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard TD run by Meckie McCoy. It was capped off by a two-point conversion pass from Stroman Bridges to Royce Knight.

Central stretched its advantage to 28-18 on Brawley's 1-yard TD plunge at the 9:14 mark of the fourth.

Just under eight minutes later, the Bulldogs cut it to the final margin on McCoy's second TD run.

Brylee Perez (16 carries for 132 yards) and McCoy (21 for 101, 2 TDs) led the Bulldogs' ground attack.

Midland quarterback Jake Cunningham added 18 carries for 44 yards, and Jakee Urias had four for 39.

If the Bulldogs would have been able to execute better in the red zone early in the game, the outcome might have been different.

"That’s the story for sure in the second quarter," Midland head coach Thad Fortune said. "To get in there twice and only come out with three points, that’s not good. We’ve got to be better offensively, starting with me. That just kind of put us behind the eight-ball against an offense like Central. You get down there, you have to take advantage."

Field conditions got a little soggy in the second half after a steady downpour.

Crane gave his assessment of the Bobcats' offensive performance.

"We got off to the slow start on the first drive, and then after that it was pretty good," the Bobcats coach said. "We had some explosive plays and some explosive runs from Tyler. The post play to Jacob English and the corner route right down here to Keevon, those were all good plays.

"We were able to milk the clock some in the third quarter when the rain was the heaviest. The field got real slippery. Even though we didn't score, that was a big part of it, being able to hold the ball and milk the clock a little bit. Offensively, I felt that we played pretty good and we've just got to keep getting better from here."

San Angelo Central 28, Midland High 25

Central 7 14 0 7 -- 28

Midland 7 3 0 15 -- 25

First Quarter

MHS – Brylee Perez 3 run (Levi Crowder kick), 5:56

CEN – Jacob English 39 pass from Tyler Hill (Chase Miller kick), 2:41

Second Quarter

MHS – FG Crowder 25, 8:34

CEN – Aiden Barron 4 run (Miller kick), 7:45

CEN – Keevon Rice 22 pass from Hill (Miller kick), 1:21

Fourth Quarter

MHS – Meckie McCoy 1 run (Royce Knight pass from Stroman Bridges), 10:56

CEN – Tyree Brawley 1 run (Miller kick), 9:14

MHS – McCoy 2 run (Crowder kick), 1:24

CEN MHS

First downs 13 22

Rushes-yards 25-236 47-336

Passing yards 94 0

Comp.-Att.-Int. 7-11-0 0-1-0

Punts-avg. 1-24.0 1-20.0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-1

Penalties-yards 2-15 4-34

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Central, Tyler Hill 6-174, Tyree Brawley 9-31, Jayvion Robinson 7-21, Aiden Barron 3-10. Midland, Brylee Perez 16-132, Meckie McCoy 21-101, Jake Cunningham 18-44, Jakee Urias 4-39, Stroman Bridges 3-17, Elijah McCoy 1-3.PASSING –Central, Hill 7-11-0—94. Midland, Cunningham 0-1-0—0.RECEIVING – Central, Jacob English 1-39, Keevon Rice 3-33, Jaedyn Gipson 1-10, Tyler Walker 1-10, Brawley 1-2.

This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: San Angelo Central Bobcats top Midland High 28-25 in 2-6A opener