Central's Mark Smith Speaks on the State of the Bobcats During the Bye Week

SAN ANGELO, TX — Although it seems like football season just kicked off a few weeks ago, the Central Bobcats (3-2) are already halfway through the 2026 regular season.

Head coach Mark Smith recapped the dominant win over Belton last week before reviewing the season as a whole at his weekly press conference at San Angelo Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. Watch that press conference above.

The Bobcats currently sport a 3-2 overall record in 2026. Arguably, Central should be 4-1 at this point, but thanks to a disappointing result against Abilene Cooper, that is not the case. However, the team keeps getting better every week, and Coach Smith said that Bobcats cannot get complacent after the last two victories.

"When you are as successful as you have been in the last couple of weeks, sometimes you lose that edge a little bit of doing things exactly the right way," Coach Smith said. "That's kind of my retrospective look at what we have learned through these first five weeks. Let's really hone in on the details. Because if we can clean that up, we have a dangerous football team. This team is good. If we can just be a little more efficient in every area, then you have a team that is competing for a championship in District 2-6A."

So, how did the Bobcats get here?

Central began the 2026 season with a 28-23 win over rival Abilene High at home. The Bobcats showed flashes of brilliance in this contest, taking a commanding second-half lead before holding on and putting the game away against a talented Eagles roster. In Week 2, Central traveled to Mansfield to take on a DFW team in Lake Ridge. Despite keeping the game close until midway through the third quarter, Lake Ridge made the plays they needed on defense to stop Central in its tracks. Couple that with some explosive offensive plays, and the Bobcats gave up their first lopsided loss of the year, 47-28.

The Bobcats followed that up with a contest against Abilene Cooper where Central controlled the game through 3.5 quarters before letting it slip away. Mental mistakes and a few turnovers allowed the Cougars to creep back into the game before taking control and the victory, 28-21.

At 1-2 at that point in the season, Central could have lost heart. Instead, the Bobcats beat down El Paso Montwood 42-7 in Andrews in Central's most dominating showing in 2026. The Bobcats followed that up with a 52-29 victory over Belton at home a week later. In that contest, the offensive line flexed their muscles, allowing running back Zey Johnson to break Central's school rushing record with 351 yards on 31 carries.

Rather than letting the two-game skid stop the Bobcats, this team proved it has heart and character and can bounce back.

This will be needed when district play begins. 

Central has one more non-district matchup on the books on the road at Midland Greenwood before the start of district play, but after that, Central hosts Midland Lee.

How will Central use this bye week? Rest, study and recuperation. The Bobcats have a few nagging injuries that need to be addressed, and the Bobcats have already started preparing for Greenwood. The more prepared they are for the Rangers, the sooner Central can shift its focus to Lee in Week 8.

Kickoff for the matchup with Midland Greenwood is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. in Midland.