San Marcos looked combustible on both sides of the ball in its 2020 season opener against New Braunfels, making huge plays on both sides of the ball.
The Rattlers offense rocketed for gains of 20 or more yards six times Friday night and the defense forced two turnovers in the third quarter to build momentum for a possible late comeback.
But as explosive as San Marcos was, the team often backfired on itself. The Rattlers were flagged for eight penalties, losing 35 yards, coughed up a fumble and missed four extra point attempts to fall to the Unicorns inside San Marcos Toyota Rattler Stadium, 35-31.
“I'm really disappointed we lost. Because we lost because we just shot ourselves in the foot so many times on alignment, on execution,” head coach John Walsh said. “And I told the group, we're not going to stop implementing what we gotta implement to win football games. We just gotta get better at it.
“I can't call timeouts because we can't line up right. And again, we're not going to dumb you down. We're gonna keep moving forward and get our systems in.”
Walsh’s reign as the leader of the Rattlers got off to a sound start. The purple and white held New Braunfels (1-0) to a three-and-out in the opening drive of the game and got the ball for the first time on the 22-yard line. Two illegal formation penalties knocked San Marcos back to 3rd and 16 but sophomore Isaiah DeLeon, making his first start with the varsity squad, found junior wide receiver Nathan Henry on an 18-yard pass to pick up the first down.
On the next play, DeLeon tossed a shovel pass to senior Kannon Webb, running a sweep from the left side. Webb weaved through the Unicorn defense and reached the end zone for a 66-yard touchdown, putting the Rattlers up 6-0.
San Marcos missed the extra point, though, and New Braunfels responded three drives later with a 10-yard scoring run from junior running back Ryker Purdy to take a 7-6 lead.
The Unicorns scored twice in the second quarter, with senior quarterback Peyton Driggers finding junior wideout Trace Higginbotham for a 17-yard touchdown pass and sophomore Jacob Redding on a fade to the left corner of the end zone from seven yards out.
Junior running Kanui Guidry broke free for a 59-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 21-12 heading into halftime. The team learned to lean on him more entering the second half.
“(Guidry) was our momentum,” Walsh said. “I mean, he's -- the defense was making stops and he was making big plays. We were able to get the edge with him and he capitalized by hitting home runs.”
The purple and white forced a fumble on New Braunfels’ first drive of the second half. Senior linebacker Nelson Coleman returned the ball to the 4-yard line and Webb punched it in on the next play running the same sweep he scored on in the first quarter. The Rattlers connected on their only PAT of the night.
Webb picked off a pass from Driggers later in the third, but the offense wasn’t able to capitalize on it. At the end of the period, a punt by the Unicorns backed the hosts up to their own end zone. They handed the ball to Guidry on the last play of the third quarter, who cut left and ran the length of the field for a 99-yard touchdown run, trimming the deficit to 28-25 with 12 minutes to play.
“I give all my credit to my line and my wide receivers,” Guidry said. “They were making all the right blocks and making all the right reads. As long as we keep on doing that, we can do it all season.”
The teams traded touchdowns one last time in the fourth quarter, Driggers hitting up senior wide receiver Dylan Schriewer for a 23-yard score and Guidry taking another carry 58 yards to the house. San Marcos forced another turnover on downs with 2:18 remaining on the clock, giving the team one last chance at taking back the lead.
Walsh had to burn two timeouts to avoid penalties and the Rattlers were unable to convert on 4th and 3 from the 37, stalling out the drive. Driggers kneeled to run down the final 1:05 and secure the 35-31 victory for New Braunfels.
San Marcos (0-1) is set to return to Rattler Stadium to host Lockhart (0-1) next Friday at 7:30 p.m. The head coach said that, while it felt good to finally get back on the field, he wants to be able to put a better product on the field for the fans the next time around.
“What I'm really proud of is the battle (the players) had, they fought,” Walsh said. “You know, it could have easily turned the other way if they had given up and there was no give up, man. We were flying around, kids were going down with cramps and then the next man up was going. So I'm really proud of how they fought to the end.
“(We have to) absolutely just fix us. You know, I haven't seen Lockhart, what they run on defense or offense yet and I'm really not concerned about it. We gotta fix us, we gotta line up right and do the things that it takes to win a football game.”
San Marcos Stats
Passing
QB Isaiah DeLeon: 10-21, 187 yards, TD
Rushing
RB Kanui Guidry: 17 carries, 257 yards, 3 TDs
QB Isaiah DeLeon: 9 carries, 22 yards
Receiving
WR Kannon Webb: 2 receptions, 70 yards, 2 TDs
RB Kanui Guidry: 3 receptions, 53 yards
WR Ryan Hix: 3 receptions 30 yards
WR Nathan Henry: 1 reception, 18 yards
WR Quddus Ogunbase: 1 reception, 16 yards
