San Marcos was defeated 63-0 by the Cibolo Steele Knights in district play on Friday night.
Despite the loss, Rattlers head coach John Walsh was proud of the mindset that his team displayed.
“About two weeks ago, we kind of had a little low in our mentality,” said Walsh. “The score doesn’t reflect it, but their attitude has been much better and I thought we played harder.”
The Knights got the scoring started when quarterback Chad Warner found wide receiver Royal Capell for a 61-yard touchdown on the second play of the game.
The Rattlers were intercepted on their first drive, and the Knights capitalized quickly off the mistake with a 46-yard catch-and-run by running back Samuel Harris to put Cibolo Steele up 14-0.
The Rattlers found more success on their next drive, as they took the ball into Knight territory thanks to an 11-yard pass from Kane Hernandez to Legend Ramirez, but they ultimately were forced to punt the ball away.
The Knights quickly scored once again, this time on a 70-yard touchdown catch for Jalen Cooper to make it 21-0.
After a three-and-out from the Rattlers on the following drive, the Knights struck again on another 15-yard touchdown catch for Royal Capell that extended the lead to 28-0 in favor of Cibolo Steele.
On their next offensive drive, Hernandez found Andrew Farias for a 14-yard gain on third down, but a miscue on a snap as well as a penalty put an end to the San Marcos drive as they were forced to punt again.
Cibolo Steele added to their lead with a 35-yard touchdown run by Jonathan Hatton Jr. to further their lead to 35-0
San Marcos went three-and-out on their drive and the Knights blocked the punt, recovering the ball inside the Rattler 5-yard line. They scored in one play on a 5-yard scamper from Royal Capell to make it a 42-0 game.
The Rattlers were stopped in their tracks once again on offense, and the Knights blocked their second straight punt. This time, Eli Johnson recovered the ball and took it to the end zone to extend the lead to 49-0 at the half.
The Rattlers found some positive momentum on defense in the third quarter, as defensive end Alan Cabrera intercepted a Cibolo Steele pass off a deflection, and returned it to the Knights 45-yard line.
The San Marcos offense was unable to take advantage of the good field position as they were stuffed on fourth down, giving the ball back to the Knights who scored on a 55-yard touchdown run from Sean Robinson to make it 56-0.
The Knights scored one more time on a 23-yard touchdown run from running back Marcus Castillo to extend the lead. Time expired on the Rattlers following drive, making the final score 63-0.
San Marcos will get a bye week as they look to regroup before senior night and the last game of the season against New Braunfels Canyon.
“What I just told the seniors is, we’re gonna do a good job to put a good game plan together this week for Canyon,” said Walsh. “But really getting their legs under them. Fresh legs, fresh bodies, and fresh minds for their senior night.”
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.Toyota Rattler Stadium on Nov. 8.
