San Antonio East Central outlasted San Marcos, 42-38, in an overtime battle Friday night inside San Marcos Toyota Rattler Stadium.
The Rattlers survived a late fourth-quarter drive by the Hornets when junior kicker Noah Chavez’s game-winning field goal attempt hit off the left upright and was no good, sending the contest into overtime knotted at 35-35.
San Marcos (0-4, 0-1 26-6A) took a 38-35 lead in overtime after a 41-yard field goal by junior kicker Daniel Marquez sailed through the uprights. The Rattler defense looked poised to hold strong but East Central (3-1, 1-0) used a pivotal late-hit penalty to move inside the 7-yard line. The Hornets sealed the game two plays later with a 5-yard touchdown run by senior running back Deangelo Rosemond.
“We expected that game, that kind of game,” head coach Mark Soto said. “We knew it's gonna be a close game. We expected it like that. We prepared for it. And our kids executed a lot of good stuff. But there were some mistakes and we got to clean up mistakes. When we walked in at halftime there were six penalties that got the sticks moving and move them into better field position. So it was kind of tough to play through that. But we still came out in the second half and showed us, showed everybody in San Marcos what we’re made of.”
San Marcos struck quickly against East Central with a 75-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Alex Garcia to senior wide receiver Diego Cruz.
The Rattlers used a 43-yard pass from Garcia to junior wide receiver Aiden Robinson and a 25-yard grab by sophomore running back Benito Canales on their second possession of the game to get to the Hornet 1-yard line. San Marcos cashed in on the two big gains when Canales scored on a 1-yard run to push the San Marcos advantage to 14-0.
East Central answered with a 54-yard run by Rosemond to slice the Rattler lead in half.
But San Marcos answered when Garcia connected with senior wide receiver Takai Madgett for a 52-yard pass to get the Rattlers to the Hornets 3-yard line. Garcia capped off the drive with a 3-yard quarterback keeper to go up 21-7.
Rattler junior defensive back Kannon Webb halted an East Central drive in San Marcos territory when he came up with a diving interception late in the first quarter. The Rattlers used the turnover to push their lead to 28-7 in the second quarter after Garcia found Madgett wide open for a 38-yard touchdown pass.
East Central responded with a 17-yard scoring run from Rosemond. A bad snap on a San Marcos punt flew over senior punter Alfredo Hernandez’s head, which set up the Hornets at the Rattler 24. East Central took advantage of the San Marcos mistake with a 10-yard touchdown run to get within 28-21.
An interception by Garcia set up East Central in prime position late in the first half. The Hornets evened the score when sophomore quarterback Caden Bonsanko scrambled 20 yards to tie the score at 28-28 at the half.
After an offensive onslaught in the first half, a defensive struggle broke out in the third quarter. Neither team found the endzone after tallying eight combined touchdowns in the opening half.
“We didn’t really make any huge changes,” Soto said of his defense’s second-half performance. “I mean, the defense works. The Xs and Os, they’re always on point. We’re not going to put kids in bad positions. It’s just a matter of attitude — how hard we’re running to the ball. How hard we’re tackling the ball.”
East Central, however, took a 35-28 lead early in the fourth quarter after Rosemond found the endzone on a 5-yard scoring scamper.
San Marcos evened the score when Garcia scored his second rushing touchdown of the night on a 3-yard score.
The Hornets had two chances to take a late-game lead and end the game in regulation but Chavez came up short a 47-yard attempt and had his 24-yard, game-winning try bounce off the left upright.
San Marcos’ offense stalled on its opening overtime possession but Marquez nailed a 47-yard field goal to hand the Rattlers the lead. But Rosemond’s fifth touchdown of the night gave East Central the 42-38 victory.
Rosemond powered the Hornets to victory behind a 254-yard, five-touchdown performance.
But Garcia put up a big game through the air for the Rattlers, tallying 324 yards and two touchdowns.
“(Garcia is) a veteran, it’s his offense right now,” Soto said. “He's doing a good job distributing the ball.”
San Marcos continues district play against Converse Judson (4-0, 1-0) at D.W. Rutledge Stadium in Converse on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
