Bobcats quarterback Malachi Brown hooked up with Christian Gabaldon for a 20-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter for the game's only TD.
Central improved to 7-2 overall and 4-1 in district, while Bell dropped to 1-7 and 0-4.
A week after setting a school record with 42 carries for 338 yards, Brown was held to 103 yards on 25 carries, but he picked up a lot of crucial first downs. He completed 21 of 37 passes for 138 yards and one TD.
"They had a great plan for us," Central head coach Brent Davis said. "They basically had nine guys in 'The Box,' and they weren't going to let us run the ball and it showed. We never had a real opportunity to back them up off of us.
"I thought L.D. Bell played exceptional and I thought our defense played exceptional. I knew it was going to be like this. I didn't really think 10-2, but I thought it was going to be extremely close because of the travel. When you come this far, it's tough."
The Bobcats finished with 281 yards total offense, well below their average, and the Blue Raiders had 145.
Central's Tristan Lopez intercepted Blue Raiders quarterback Landry Choate in the second quarter, and teammate Daylon Green had an even bigger interception in the fourth quarter when Bell was in Bobcats territory with a chance to pull even with a TD and a two-point conversion.
Neither team could get much going in the first half, as the Bobcats took a 3-2 advantage on Miles Houser's 34-yard field goal at the 4:32 mark of the second quarter.
Bell opened the scoring with a safety with 6:44 left in the first when the Bobcats fumbled the ball into their own end zone.
The Bobcats will have an open date next week before they host 3-6A leader Fort Worth Haltom on Friday, Nov. 9 at San Angelo Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Davis knows how fortunate his team was to come out with a win against Bell, which was eliminated from playoff contention with the loss.
"This was a trap game for us," Davis said. "We've been playing nine weeks straight without a break with a lot of injuries and a lot of adversity and we're just surviving. Now we've got a little break.
"We can get rejuvenated and we can get healthy and everything else it's going to take to beat Haltom and try to get a piece of that district championship."
Brown's favorite target Friday was wide receiver Tanner Dabbert, who caught 12 passe... Click here to read full article
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