Ready for San Angelo Central??

By
September 1, 2005

Welcome Eagle fans. No game day on Friday again this week. Saturday at 7:30 PM in San Angelo, the Eagles will take on San Angelo Central. Last season when these two teams met in their pre district encounter, Abilene High was victorious.

Abilene High should have an advantage in that the Eagles have a game under their belts after beating Lubbock Monterey in week zero, 37-14. San Angelo Central on the other hand will be opening their season Saturday night against the Eagles. The Bobcats would truly love to beat Abilene High to start their season in a positive way.

San Angelo Central’s head coach begins his third season at the helm of the Bobcats. Coach Bob Bellard has a respectful 15-10 record in the two years he has been at Central. His overall record over 16 years is 96-66-1. Central finished last year at 6 and 6 overall with a 3 and 2 record in District 2 5A. They were beaten in the second round of the playoffs. Central returns 2 offensive starters and 5 defensive starters with a total of 20 lettermen from their 2004 squad.

My understanding is that offensively they use a power running game and will have a sophisticated passing attack and run from multiple sets. That will be a good test for the Eagle defense. The defense that Central will use against the Eagle offense is known as a 50 defense. They will blitz a good portion of the time. They feel that their strength on defense is their linebackers and the secondary.

The 2005 edition of the Eagles looks pretty good to me. For those who want to compare this squad to the outstanding 2004 team, there are some comparisons to be made. To my ii, if there is bad news , it is the Eagle offense is not the big play machine that it was a year ago. The good news is it would appear that Abilene High will be well balanced as far as running and passing. The offensive line had a wonderful game against Monterey. That one game of experience will be tremendously beneficial against this weeks opponent. The Eagles will have success driving the ball on longer drives. Longer meaning time of possession. Once again, the Eagles have their go to receiver but several capable young men will make for a super set of receivers.

Defensibly speaking, the Eagles appear to be not as quick as last year and somewhat smaller but remain very active in going to the ball. Once they get to the ball, they are capable of making the tackle. This past week the first game highlight reel showed several plays where there were 6 or 7 or even 8 Eagle defenders that swallowed up the ball carrier. Every week these young men play they are going to get better and gel as a unit. That will not be good news for teams farther down the schedule as the Eagle D is solid right now.

The kicking game looked good in week zero and will improve with each week as well.

For those who make the trip to San Angelo to support the Eagles, travel safely. If you can’t go to the game, be sure and listen on the radio on KZQQ 1560 AM or tune in through the internet.

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