BEDFORD 
The highly-regarded San Angelo Central football team found the going tougher than expected against a highly motivated Hurst L.D. Bell team at Pennington Field on Friday night.

The Bobcats escaped with a 10-2 win.

Bell (1-7, 0-4) didn’t look anything close to a one-win team against the perennial football strong-boys of West Texas.

It was the Blue Raiders defense that rose to the challenge on several occasions and put the first points on the board.

The Bobcats (7-2, 4-1) were operating from their own 18 when a shotgun snap forced Central QB Malachi Brown to scramble back into his end zone to recover the ball.

A host of Bell defenders, led by Bobby Young, corralled the carrier in the end zone for a safety.

Although Bell was unable to capitalize when they started the next drive from their 45, which concluded when a fourth down reverse went awry, the defense again held. Central ended their subsequent drive on downs at the Bell 23.

The Bobcats have been playing most of the season without their regular starting QB and Texas Tech commit, Maverick McIvor. McIvor injured his knee in the second game of the season.

Sophomore Malachi Brown has been filling in for Central. He finished the game with 119 yards on 22 carries. It’s a far cry from his single-game rushing record set last week when he gained 338 yards.

After a Central interception of a Landry Choate pass, the Bobcats went 61 yards to settle for a 34-yard field goal.

The half ended with the 3-2 baseball score with Central in the lead.

After Bell flipped the field with a 43-yard punt, Central started their third possession of the second half at their 18. They were aided by two costly penalties to keep their drive alive.

But Central finally showed some of their expected power and connected for a 20-yard TD pass on the first play of the fourth quarter.

That pushed the scoreboard all the way to 10-2.

The Raiders had some momentum after Choate hit Conner Mullins for a 21-yard pass play. On the next play from the Bobcats’ 27, Central picked off their second pass of the night.