Dawgs off to flying start Posted On: Saturday, Aug. 29 2009 04:03 AM By Angel Verdejo
Killeen Daily Herald

COPPERAS COVE – No offense to the San Angelo Central Bobcats, but Friday night's season opener just didn't have much in their favor going in.

Not only were the Bobcats trying to bounce back from an 0-10 season a year ago, but were doing so with a first-year head coach and backup quarterback on the road against a Copperas Cove team that has averaged more than 12 wins the last four seasons. San Angelo Central looked like a team entering the season on a 13-game losing streak, while the Dawgs looked like a team that reached the semifinals every year since 2006.

The final result was a 65-6 Copperas Cove victory, the Dawgs' fourth consecutive over San Angelo Central in as many years. During the teams' four-game series, Copperas Cove has outscored the Bobcats 167-12 and just missed on its third straight shutout.

Bobcat quarterback Logan O'Brian was promoted to starter a few weeks back when senior Clayton Kafer came down with an illness. O'Brian completed 8 of 18 pass for 55 yards but rarely did San Angelo test the Cove defense downfield. Instead, the Dawgs stayed near the line of scrimmage and swarmed to the Bobcat runs and short-range passes. Central's Alex Lara finished with a game-high 144 yards, but needed 26 carries to do so (Cove's Brandin Byrd and Brelan Chancellor both topped the 100-mark with a combined 17 rushing attempts).

"I thought our defense played really well but we've got a lot of things to work on," Welch said. "You say they only scored six points, but we had some mental breaks right there and I'm not pleased with that at all. You guys might be looking at the score but we're watching them play – we did not play a perfect ballgame by far."

For the Dawgs (1-0), their most glaring concern entering the season – an inexperienced offense – may not have been totally answered Friday, but it showed positive signs. The Cove offense finished with 434 yards of total offense with 350 coming on the ground.

"The media said we were inexperienced but we were talking the whole game saying, 'Let's prove the media wrong.'" Senior tackle Dominic Zeigler said. "Everybody thinks we can't do it, but we got to do it. Now we just have to come back next week and prepare for Waco."

Quarterbacks Cody Vaughn and Nik Greene completed 5-of-10 passes, but each time in the pocket or space on designed rollouts to find receivers. The Dawgs did their most damage rushing, where Cove averaged more than 11 yards per carry. Byrd led the offense with 132 yards on the ground, but Chancellor needed just seven carries to gain his 121 yards (17.3 yards per carry).

Up 7-0 after one quarter, Cove ran away from San Angelo Central with a 37-point second quarter. The Dawgs scored on their four possessions in the quarter, got a safety on a Bobcat penalty and defensive back Myron Taylor recovered a fumble and returned it 11 yards for the score.

"We all just try and do the best we can," Chancellor said. "We're all friends and we like it when someone does well."

San Angelo Central punted four times in the first half in addition to two turnovers. The Bobcats finally got on the board on their first drive in the third quarter, cutting the Cove lead to 44-6.

The Bobcats (0-1) had one last chance to score on the game's final possession, as they ran the final eight minutes off the clock.

San Angelo Central reached the Cove 23 and attempted a 40-yard field goal in the final seconds, but the kick went wide left to end the game.

Contact Angel Verdejo at averdejo@kdhnews.com

or (254) 501-7564.