Rattlers continue through spring practice

San Marcos wrapped up their second week of spring practice in preparation for the 2024 fall season.

Head Coach John Walsh has been proud of the Rattlers ability to strive towards being the best though the first two weeks of spring practice.

“Our energy and effort has not been a problem from the start,” Walsh said. “Being energetic, physical and the execution of both sides of the ball.”

Despite some of the players having eligibility issues out of their control, one of the goals of spring practice is to have the team compete throughout practice.

“To not speak around it, we have 11 juniors that are not going to play varsity ball,” Walsh said. “But we are not practicing that way. We are practicing [as if ] everyone is playing varsity ball. … So it’s been a fun and competitive spring ball so far.”

The Rattler offense will see some new faces having too many starters from last year’s team.

While the offense scheme may see a few changes, the Rattlers affinity of running the ball will not.

“It is going to be similar in what we call it,” Walsh said. “There are going to be some more quarterback run games that we put in. Other than that, it’s going to be the same.”

A big key to the Rattler offense will be the rushing attack from a talented core of running backs.

With some key starters back at that position, San Marcos will look to lean on them to lead the offense.

“We have Donovan Garcia back who turned out to be our most explosive running back last year,” Walsh said. “We also have Justin Tardy, Izayah Young, William Perkins and Elliott Gray. They all can run that football well.”

The defense also looks to take a step forward after a rough season.

Giving up an average of 47.9 points per game last season, Walsh is already seeing some improvements, mainly with the defensive line and linebackers.

“The charge is that we are going to load up the box and stop the run,” Walsh said. “We have some athletes that are going to bring pressure on the quarterback. So far, they have definitely brought that to the offense. We are having a hard time getting the ball off with the pressure that they are bringing with some special kids off the edge.”

While the plan is not to do anything too extravagant with both the offense and the defense, Walsh still wants to see the two units give it their all while repping their base sets.

“We don’t put on a whole lot during the spring,” Walsh said. “I just want to see the offense and the defense go at each other with our base stuff. For us on offense, we want to run the football. Right now it’s tough because everyone knows what is coming, but if we make it hard now, it will be easier in the fall.”

But another key Walsh hopes to get out of spring practice is having the players get used to each other as teammates.

With this being the first time many of the players practice with one another, the workouts allow an opportunity for the Rattlers to develop key team cohesion.

“When you start spring ball, you have a lot of guys that haven’t played with each other,” Walsh said. “I want to look more cohesive by the time we get to the spring game while keeping the same energy and physicality that I have seen so far.”

The key to building that cohesion is simple repetition.

“I’m a big team rep guy,” Walsh said. “The more reps you can get with each other, the more cohesive you will get. We are going to maximize our reps.”

The Rattlers will conclude spring practice with the annual spring game.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc