Published: August 14, 2006 09:42 am      

Rattlers surprise with air attack

For the past 10 seasons, the San Marcos Rattlers have not been known as a passing team. Utilizing the run-heavy, Slot-T offense has allowed the Rattlers to rack up big offensive numbers — but almost all of the yardage was one the ground.

In fact, San Marcos’ inability to balance its offensive attack has hindered the team from making long playoff runs in the past.

So when the Rattlers’ first-team offense came out throwing often and early in Saturday’s intrasquad scrimmage at Bobcat Stadium, a number of eyebrows were raised.

Seven of the Rattlers’ 18 plays on the first team’s initial drive were passing plays. More importantly, six of the attempts were completions and two were touchdowns.

“I tell people all the time that we work hard on the passing game, and we try to be ready to use it when we need to,” said Van Nest. “If people are going to stack the line of scrimmage, then we want to have the ability to throw.

“We’re a running team and we’re not going to change, but if that struggles a bit, then Plan B would be for us to throw it and we want to be able to throw it. We did a pretty good job with that today.”

Elijah Gonzales completed the first scoring pass, rolling out to his right and connecting with Matt Urrutia for a 3-yard touchdown play. Moments later, Gonzales came through with a 43-yard completion to D.J. Hemphill, setting up a 30-yard scoring run for Dominic Castilleja two plays later.

Gonzales delivered another nice pass to Spencer Gourley for a 16-yard gain, then completed a swing pass to running back T.P. Miller, who utilized his breakaway speed down the left side line for a 37-yard gain.

Gourley picked up his second reception of the scrimmage when he made a diving catch up the middle for a 30-yard gain, setting up the offense for another score at the 5-yard line. Zach Cruz took the honors, punching the ball in two plays later from the two yards out.

Van Nest said he was pleased with what he saw from Gonzales.

“He’s coming along good, his leadership is good, he runs the offense well and he’s getting more and more confident each day,” said Van Nest. “He’s got a good arm and he really throws the deep routes well. So the more he plays, the better he’s going to get.”

Josh Green also got into the air action when he took snaps late in the scrimmage, rolling right and completing a 30-yard pass to Miller.

While the passing game was the surprising aspect of the scrimmage, the Rattlers showed that they still have a number of solid running backs that can effectively tote the ball.

Urrutia came through with a pair of runs for more than 35 yards, Castillejo showed good breakaway speed on his touchdown carry and Brandon Banks showed off his speed while working out with the junior varsity. Miller also displayed big-play ability with a 40-yard touchdown on the first offense’s last series of the scrimmage.

Kevin Stiles, a returning letterman at running back, sat out of the scrimmage to nurse an injury.

Also, sophomore Aaron Canady displayed solid speed as a back-up quarterback, scoring on a 65-yard keeper. He’s the younger brother of Alvin Canady, the school’s all-time leading rusher and current Texas State Bobcat.

Van Nest said he’s looking for one of these backs to step up and take over as the offense’s premier running back.

“In the past we had Alvin as the big gun and we knew Jordan Walker was going to be the big gun last year, but we’re going to do it by committee this year until somebody steps up and shows us they are going to be the go-to guy,” said Van Nest.

The Rattlers will face their first scrimmage against an opponent Saturday morning at Killeen where SMHS will line up against the Ellison Eagles. San Marcos’ second scrimmage is set for Aug. 25 at home against Laredo-Alexander.

The Rattlers open the season Sept. 1 at Kerrville-Tivy.