AUSTIN — John Walsh considers Kannon Webb one of the best football players at San Marcos. Heading into Friday’s game against Austin High, the head coach wanted to find ways to get the ball in the senior’s hands more often.
San Marcos rotated Webb in at safety, wide receiver and quarterback throughout the night. Webb produced, scoring three touchdowns in the first half.
But even with Webb’s performance, the Rattlers couldn’t keep up with the Maroons’ offense, falling at House Park, 56-28.
“He's explosive … I think it made our offense a little more explosive,” Walsh said. “Our kids were resilient. The football looked better tonight.”
Austin High (4-1, 3-1 district) received the opening kickoff but didn’t keep the possession long. On the third play of the game, senior quarterback and Texas commit Charles Wright threw an interception to senior linebacker Moses Alva, who returned the ball to the San Marcos 46-yard line. The visitors used six plays to drive the length of the field, with Webb taking a quarterback keeper 17 yards to the end zone for the first score of the game.
But the hosts scored 28 consecutive points to end the quarter as the Rattlers (1-5, 0-4) coughed up two fumbles. Webb finally ended the run by taking another carry to the goal line for a 2-yard touchdown.
“The turnovers — when you're playing a quarterback like that right there, you can't give possessions up,” Walsh said. “He's too good.”
Tempers flared late in the first half as big plays for the Rattlers were called back by officials. Webb broke free for a 70-yard touchdown run with just under five minutes left in the second quarter, but a San Marcos player was flagged for blocking out of bounds, removing the score off the board. The purple and white fumbled the ball away again two plays later.
Senior linebacker Nelson Coleman picked off Wright for another interception on the next drive. But on the first play of the visitors’ ensuing possession, sophomore quarterback Isaiah DeLeon rolled to his left and cocked his arm back to throw. A Maroons defender took DeLeon down and the ball came forward, recovered by Austin High. Walsh argued DeLeon had thrown a forward pass, but the officials ruled it a fumble, the Rattlers’ fourth of the evening.
San Marcos forced a turnover on downs, though, and Webb earned his final touchdown of the contest on the next drive, a 16-yard carry to the end zone to cut the lead to 35-21. Austin High called for a fair catch during the kickoff, but the ball was muffed and recovered by the Rattlers. The purple and white offense lined up on the field, but after a discussion among officials, it was determined that an inadvertent whistle had been blown prior to the end of the play, forcing a re-kick. This time Austin High caught the fair catch and ran down the clock to end the second quarter.
Walsh argued with the lead official as the team made its way to the locker room for half time.
“I can fully support Coach Walsh on this!” said Andrew Fernandez, SMCISD Executive Director of Communications and Community Relations, in a tweet. “Referees have not been very good (trying to stay professional). Rattlers battling and our leader is standing up for them!”
The head coach kept his players’ focus on the second half, though.
“We talked about how we felt like, physically, we were the better football team out there in that first half. We just gave possessions up,” Walsh said. “The message was simple. I just kind of talked about the score differential and the possession and how important that first possession was. And we took care of business.”
San Marcos charged 70 yards in six plays, handing the ball off to sophomore running back Jake Rodriguez-Scholz for a 10-yard touchdown run to make it a one-score game, 35-28.
But the hosts pulled away as the game wore on, scoring 21 unanswered and taking the 56-28 victory.
The Rattlers will hold their homecoming next Saturday inside San Marcos Toyota Rattler Stadium, hosting Del Valle (2-3, 1-2) at 2 p.m.
San Marcos Stats
Passing
QB Isaiah DeLeon
13-18, 177 yards
Rushing
QB/WR Kannon Webb
9 carries, 60 yards, 3 TDs
RB Jake Rodriguez-Scholz
13 carries, 54 yards, 1 TD
RB Moses Alva
6 carries, 54 yards
QB Isaiah DeLeon
7 carries, 17 yards
RB Michael Oldham
2 carries, 5 yards
Receiving
WR Jamil Gordon
4 catches, 63 yards
RB Jake Rodriguez-Scholz
3 catches, 47 yards
WR Nathan Henry
2 catches, 35 yards
QB/WR Kannon Webb
3 catches, 22 yards
WR Matthew Flores
1 catch, 9 yards
