SMHS FOOTBALL
San Marcos fell in the road district game against the East Central Hornets, losing 50-0.
It was a rough night for the Rattlers trying to stop the Hornets’ explosive offense, who put 59 points on Cibolo Steele the previous week.
“East Central is a good football team,” Head Coach John Walsh said. “We knew we had our hands full with this group. They have a lot of talent on the perimeter, and it showed real quick.”
San Marcos received the ball to start the game and was able to get a first down from a 10-yard pass from quarterback Kane Hernandez to receiver Legend Ramirez. But the drive stalled out and the Rattlers were forced to punt.
East Central struck first with a 75-yard touchdown pass and added a two point conversion to go up 8-0.
On their next drive, the Rattlers had the ball at midfield and attempted to go for it on fourth down following a running into the kicker penalty on East Central. But San Marcos was unable to convert, allowing the Hornets to take over.
East Central scored again on the first play of the drive, rushing for a 55yard touchdown on top of tacking on a two-point conversion, extending the lead to 16-0.
The Rattler offense stalled out on their next possession as the Hornets returned the punt back to the San Marcos 24-yard line before scoring again to go up 22-0.
The Rattlers made improvements on their last drive, gaining two first downs, including converting on fourth down from a 11-yard run by running back Andrew Farias. But San Marcos was unable to find the endzone and punted back to East Central.
The Rattler defense stopped East Central from scoring on just one play before the Hornets drove down the field and scored another touchdown to extend the lead 29-0.
East Central tacked on another touchdown right before halftime to make it a 36-0 game.
The Hornets scored twice in the second half to make the final 50-0 as the Rattlers were unable to find the end zone despite their last drive going inside the East Central 20-yard line.
As the Rattlers return home, the message for San Marcos is about finishing out the season strong in spite of the challenges the team has faced all season.
“We just have to finish,” Walsh said. “It’s a life lesson that it is not always going to be easy. When you are winning and making big playoff runs, there are a lot of life lessons. When you are struggling like this, there are still a lot of life lessons.
“These kids are going to have jobs and their bosses are going to make decisions that they do not like. There is going to be failure in those jobs, but you still have to go to work and get paid.”
Walsh also pointed out the hard work of both Andrew Farias and Legend Ramirez, who came in to replace the injured Donovan Garcia.
Both players shared the responsibility of leading the Rattlers rushing attack.
“Andrew Farias runs hard,” Walsh said. “He runs hard. He is not a natural running back but a receiver coming in. I thought Legend Ramirez made a lot of good plays today.”
San Marcos returns home next Friday for their showdown against Converse Judson.
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