Having a bye last week gave the Central High School football team a chance to go back to the drawing board to try to turn around an 0-4 start.

"When you're 0-4, you're pretty open-minded," Central head coach Steve Heryford said.

One area where the Bobcats took a good hard look at themselves was in the running game, which is averaging just 66 yards a contest.

The last two weeks of practice have seen the Bobcats - who had been using a spread offense that has resulted in two-thirds of their yardage so far coming through the air - experimenting with some new alignments that could help the running game.

That could be especially important tonight against an Amarillo High team (2-2, 1-2) that looked vulnerable against the run last time out against Permian, allowing the Panthers 453 yards on the ground.

If Central can run the ball better, it could have a positive impact on another area in which the Bobcats have struggled - defense.

So far this season, Central is allowing an average of 40 points a game. If that continues, this year's Central team would allow more points than any other season in school history.

Part of the problem, Heryford said, is that the defense has been on the field so much.

Nowhere was that more obvious than the last time out, when Monterey ran the ball 55 times (compared to 21 for Central) and dominated time of possession in a 31-6 win by the Plainsmen.

"Our defensive struggles have had to do with us not controlling the ball offensively," Heryford said. "Even when you go three-and-out running the football, there's two or three minutes off the clock.

"We could stand to shorten the game a little."

The most successful team in recent Central history was the 2003 squad that won nine games and made it to the state quarterfinals only throwing the football a handful of times a game.

Heryford was the defensive coordinator on that team and remembers that year's recipe for success well.

"In 2003, we had a very vanilla offense," Heryford said. "It was three yards and a cloud of dust, but we'd go on 12- or 16-play drives. Then we'd go out there and three-and-out somebody (on defense). Some teams would get the ball once a quarter.

"I'd rather control the clock and run the ball and play great defense. We're still trying to search for that identity on offense."

As the Bobcats try to find that identity tonight against Amarillo High, they'll turn to a new face.

Vincent Short is a senior move-in who has bounced around several positions as a reserve for Central this season. Over the past two weeks, he has been working more and more as a running back.

"He was kind of an unknown for us at the beginning of the season," Heryford said.

But he wasn't unknown to most of the players.

Short grew up in San Angelo but moved to Baltimore after his seventh grade year. This summer, he moved back.

"It was great to come back and be around all the friends you had growing up," Short said. "I remembered all of them. They remembered me. That was a big thing for me and made the move easier."

Short said he was a varsity running back in Baltimore his sophomore and junior seasons and is looking forward to getting the ball back in his hands.

"I've always played running back. Hopefully, I'll be effective there," Short said. "It's important for us to be able to run the ball because everybody knows we can pass. Marc Campos is a great receiver. If we can establish a good running game, it will open up the passing game that much more, and we'll score some points."

"Vincent's been working really hard and doing good," Central offensive lineman Sam Njemanze said. "He's let the coaches know he wants to play, and he's going to get his chance."

Gameday notes

Central quarterback Clayton Kafer said in addition to establishing a running game, a big key for the Bobcat offense will be limiting turnovers. The Bobcats have turned the ball over six more times than their opponents this season. "And it's not just how often but when they happen," Kafer said. Amarillo High coach Brad Thiessen played one year of football for Angelo State University as a freshman before ending his playing career and transferring to Texas Tech.

If you go

• What: District 2-5A football game.
• When: 7:30 p.m. today.
• Where: Dick Bivins Stadium, Amarillo.
• Records: Central is 0-4 overall and 0-3 in district. Amarillo is 2-2, 1-2.
• Radio: 94.7 KIXY-FM.
• Of note: Since they were put in the same district in 1998, Central has beaten Amarillo only three times (in 1998, 2000 and 2003).

District 2-5A standings

District Season

Team W L W L

Permian 3 0 4 0

Odessa 3 0 4 0

Midland 3 0 3 1

Lub. Monterey 2 1 3 1

Mid. Lee 2 1 2 2

Lub. Coronado 1 2 2 2

Amarillo 1 2 2 2

Ama. Tascosa 0 3 1 3

Central 0 3 0 4

Lubbock High 0 3 0 4

Week 4 scores: Monterey 31, Central 6; Midland 62. Lubbock 24; Permian 47, Amarillo 10; Lee 21, Coronado 14; Odessa 45. Tascosa 35.

This week's games: Central at Amarillo, Permian vs. Odessa, Midland at Monterey, Coronado at Lubbock, Tascosa at Lee.

TEAM STATISTICS

Central Bobcats (0-4, 0-3)

2007 Results, schedule

Home games at San Angelo Stadium

August

29 - Copperas Cove 56, Central 0

September

5 - Permian 46, Central 14

12 - Midland High 27, Central 6

20 - Lubbock Monterey 31, Central 6

26 - OPEN

October

3 - Central at Amarillo High

10 - Odessa High at Central

17 - Central at Midland Lee

26 - Lubbock High at Central

31 - Central at Lubbock Coronado

November

7 - Tascosa at Central

Total Offense

Rush Pass Tot. Avg.

Central 264 566 830 207.5

Opponent 789 511 1300 325

Total Defense

Rush Pass Tot. Avg.

Central 789 511 1300 325

Opponent 264 566 830 207.5

First Downs

Rush Pass Pen. Tot.

Central 23 21 3 47

Opponent 47 22 6 75

Turnovers

Fum. Int. Tot.

Central 3 7 10

Opponent 3 1 4

Score by quarters

1 2 3 4

Central 19 0 0 7 - 26

Opponent 28 65 51 16 - 160

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Passing

Com Att Int Yds TD

Clayton Kafer 30 48 3 398 2

Tyler Jones 16 42 3 160 0

Chuy Obregon 1 4 0 8 0

Austin Terry 0 1 0 0 0

Ryan Chadwick 0 1 1 0 0

Bobcats totals 47 96 7 566 2

Opponents 40 71 1 511 6

Rushing

Atts Yds Avg. Long TDs

Deon Rose 34 96 2.8 15 1

Ryan Chadwick 19 64 3.4 11 0

Tyler Jones 31 45 1.5 16 1

Clayton Kafer 17 39 2.3 10 0

Austin Campbell 5 16 3.2 5 0

Taylor Patton 2 14 7 18 0

Logan O'Brien 1 5 5.0 5 0

Austin Hawk 1 2 2 2 0

Chuy Obregon 1 1 1 1 0

Kevin Hall 1 -1 -1 -1 0

Jon Lewis 1 -4 -4 -4 0

Team 2 -13 -6.5 -1 0

Bobcats 115 264 2.3 18 2

Opponents 150 789 5.3 45 13

Receiving

No. Yds Avg Lg TD

Marc Campos 19 290 15.2 55 1

Taylor Patton 18 155 8.6 19 0

Deon Rose 2 41 20.5 27 0

Jon Lewis 2 33 16.5 31 1

Raul Napoles 5 29 5.8 8 0

Ryan Chadwick 1 14 14 14 0

Bobcats 47 566 12.0 55 2

Opponents 40 511 12.7 50 6

Scoring

TD PAT 2Pt FG Saf Pts.

Marc Campos 1 0-0 0 0 0 6

Tyler Jones 1 0-0 0 0 0 6

Deon Rose 1 0-0 0 0 0 6

Jon Lewis 1 0-0 0 0 0 6

Austin Hawk 0 2-2 0 0-1 0 2

Bobcats totals 4 2-2 0 0-1 0 26

Opponents 22 20-21 0-1 2-2 1 160

Punting

No. Yds. Lg Avg

Austin Terry 16 624 57 39

Tyler Jones 1 23 23 23

Bobcats totals 17 647 50 38.1

Opponents 12 442 45 36.8

Interceptions

No. Yds Avg Lg TD

Solomon Sutton 1 6 6 6 0 Bobcats totals 1 10 10 10 0

Opponents 7 127 18.0 45 2

Defensive stats

Tkls Asts Total

Brandon Arthur 31 16 47

Jon Lewis 17 10 27

Coby Land 15 8 23

Chuy Obregon 12 6 18

A.J. Perez 11 5 16

Ryan Chadwick 11 5 16

Anthony Garcia 12 3 15

Austin Tucker 9 3 13

Andy Dickson 8 4 12

Drew Studt 7 4 11

Wade Arthur 8 3 11

Solomon Sutton 8 2 10