Rattlers back on the gridiron, looking to snap losing streak

San Marcos football players were back on the gridiron for the first week of fall camp as the Rattlers prepared for the 2024 season.

Though the Rattlers are working through some bumps, Head Coach John Walsh is proud of the players for coming to work.

“Day two, we were working on some organizational kinks,” Walsh said. “Today was much better, and the kids have been great. They have been moving around and having great energy.”

San Marcos is looking to snap an 11-game losing streak after finishing the 2023 season with an 0-10 record.

While the Rattlers kept the score close in some of the games they lost, turnovers and self-inflicted mistakes doomed the team and ended their chance at winning a game.

“Last year we were in a lot of ball games,” Walsh said. “We just didn’t finish. At halftime, we were still coaching to win a ball game, but we couldn’t finish it out.”

One area the Rattlers will look to improve on is avoiding turnovers, which doomed San Marcos in many of their games.

“The number one thing is that we cannot turn the ball over,” Walsh said. “We are going to be a ball possession offense and take care of the football.”

San Marcos returns four offensive starters from last year’s team that averaged 23.4 points per game last season.

The Rattlers are also switching up their offensive scheme to adjust with the current players.

“It’s going to be a different offense,” Walsh said. “With Kutter Gage graduating and Buck Stein unable to play varsity, we have some young [quarterbacks]. You are going to see some ball control, and we have to be creative with our good running backs.”

With the Rattlers’ offense being run by some of the younger quarterbacks, San Marcos looks to keep things simple.

“[We want them] to take care of the football and not hurt the team,” Walsh said. “They are not in the position to win a football game for us, so they have to trust their teammates.”

On defense, the Rattlers return three defensive starters from last year’s unit that held offenses to 47.9 points per game.

Looking to improve on defense, the Rattlers will be under new leadership of the defensive side of the ball with a focus on slowing down rushing attacks.

“Coach [Josh] Allen and Coach [Brian] Webb are putting together some pretty good schemes to stop the run,” Walsh said. “We are going to make teams throw the ball on us. If they can, more power to them, but we are not going to allow teams to run the ball on us.”

San Marcos will continue fall practice in the lead up to their scrimmage against Laredo United South at Jourdanton Friday Aug. 23.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc