SAN ANGELO, TX — The Central Bobcats have come a long way since head coach Mark Smith’s arrival in San Angelo two years ago. After finishing 1-9 in 2023, the Bobcats laid a foundation that continues to improve each year.
Central won four games in 2024 before doubling that win total to eight games in 2025, including the program's first playoff win since 2020.
The question now is: can the Bobcats continue this uphill climb?
In short, yes, Central is in prime position to take another step in 2026 with the return of several electric players on both sides of the football. With experience comes maturity, and Smith believes that aspect has already shown results at the start of fall camp.
"When you have a mature team, kind of a professional team, they've got a great workmanlike attitude," Smith said. "Their work habits are in alignment with what it takes to win."
Central has built a reputation as one of the most physical teams in West Texas over the past two years, and a grueling offseason and tough summer workout schedule have paid off, reflecting that.
San Angelo Central's Riley Oines rushes the passer in a 2025 game against Midland Lee.
The Bobcats look bigger, stronger and faster, and they have an opportunity to elevate the program to the next level in 2026. To do that, it will be up to the young men in the trenches battling it out each and every week.
"I want to be a physical, dominant line-of-scrimmage team," Smith said. "If you don't win the line of scrimmage in this league, it's not a matter of if you're going to win or lose, it's how bad you're going to lose."
Leading the way up front are players like Ethan Boyd on the offensive line and Riley Oines on the defensive front. Boyd returns this season already committed to play NCAA Division I football at UTSA. The young man was listed as injured on the Bobcats’ official depth chart released last week, so it will be up to senior Jose Ibarra to hold down right tackle until Boyd is healthy.
On the opposite side of the ball, Oines anchors the defensive line as one of the returners coming off a successful year in 2025. Oines has a nose for the football and found himself in the offensive backfield on more than one occasion in most of the Bobcats’ wins a season ago.
At the skill positions on offense, look to senior quarterback Micah Smith, junior running back Zeyvion Johnson, senior wide receiver Gavin Johnson and senior tight end Tucker Beaty to be the main difference makers.
Smith passed for 2,281 yards and 27 touchdowns last year, and he added 256 rushing yards and three TDs. He should improve significantly on that number this fall with the experience he’s gained. The Bobcats, including Smith, went through early struggles throughout nondistrict before Central put its game together nicely to finish the season strong. Expect that issue to not be a problem early this year.
“I think we’ll be a lot better at taking care of the ball this year,” the young quarterback said before practice on Tuesday. “I think we've got a group of receivers I can trust to know where they are going to be at the right times, and then, I’ve gotten smarter. I don’t think there will be really as many growing pains as we saw last season. I think we have a group that’s mature enough to get out and get going Week 1.”
With Central’s big and talented offensive line, the Bobcats’ running backs should feast this year. After rushing for 1,042 yards and 16 TDs last season, Johnson returns for his junior campaign hungrier than ever. He said that he’s put in the work, becoming faster with his cuts and his top-end speed. At 5-foot-11, 225 pounds, Johnson will be a headache for any linebacker that meets him. Adding to that, senior Darius Huitt adds veteran experience and a change of pace to Johnson’s more bruising style.
Central quarterback Micah Smith (4)
On defense, Central graduated multiple playmakers who acted as the heart and soul of that unit. Stepping up this season, look for new faces in new roles to continue to propel the Bobcats forward. One of those names is sophomore Solomone Ma’afu. He might be new to the team this year, but he’s already earned the respect of the more veteran guys like Oines.
“He’s a guy that just came in,” Oines said. “He’s going to take that starting role at defensive end, and I think he will be that guy this season.”
The Bobcats have gone from allowing some of the most yards and points in District 2-6A a little over three years ago to a unit that can contend. Oines said that the defense has one goal each and every week.
“Make the offense fear us,” Oines said. “I want the defense to be feared, that we are just that good.”
Central will again compete in a challenging district. While the Bobcats finally cleared the Frenship hurdle with a crushing 52-16 win over the Tigers in 2025, Frenship is no longer even a 6A team. Left are reigning district champion Odessa Permian and runner-up Midland Lee, a program that until recently held the district crown almost every year. Central has played these teams close the last two years, but they haven't quite made it over that hump. This is the year where that can realistically happen, and it is not a long shot.
Coach Smith said the Bobcats' goal is to steadily improve throughout nondistrict play so they are at their best once district competition begins.
"I want us to get better from one week to the next," Smith said. "If you're playing your best football in late October and early November, you've set yourself up very well."
Central Bobcats in action against Odessa High 2025
The nondistrict games include:
- Aug. 28: Abilene High (home)
- Sept. 4: Mansfield Lake Ridge (away)
- Sept. 11: Abilene Cooper (home)
- Sept. 18: El Paso Montwood (at Andrews)
- Sept. 25: Belton (home)
- Oct. 9: Midland Greenwood (away)
The matchups to watch during this stretch include Abilene High, Mansfield Lake Ridge and Midland Greenwood, a state-ranked 4A team that has had a meteoric rise over the past several seasons.
Once district play starts, the Bobcats will play:
- Oct. 16: Midland Lee (home)
- Oct. 23: Odessa High (away)
- Oct. 30: Midland High (home)
- Nov. 6: Odessa Permian (away)
With the loss of Frenship, the Bobcats play one extra nondistrict game this season. Central will be tested early in district against Midland Lee. If the Bobcats take care of business, the season finale against Permian at Ratliff Stadium in Odessa could be an electric matchup with district-title and playoff-seeding implications on the line.
Ultimately, Coach Smith said success for the Bobcats will be measured by wins, but also by establishing a physical identity that reflects both the program and the San Angelo community as a whole.
"I want people to say, 'That's a tough team. They're hard to kill,'" Smith said. "This is a tough, working-man's community at its core, and I think we have a football team that reflects those values here in San Angelo and the Concho Valley."
The Bobcats open up the 2026 season at home against Abilene High at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28.
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