THROWBACK FRIDAY
During the 1998 football season, San Marcos and Hays High School met on the gridiron in a showdown that helped determine the district championship.
The game was one of the most anticipated in the history of what is known as the Battle of Hays County, marking the first time the Rattlers and the Hawks played since 1995 while also being the first time the two teams were paired as district opponents.
Coming into the game, San Marcos and Hays entered with identical 7-0 records and 2-0 district records with the winner gaining a leg up in the 4A District 27 title race.
A crowd of a reported 16,300 attendees packed UFCU Stadium, then known as Bobcat Stadium, for the highly anticipated matchup. It was one of the largest attended games in the history of the stadium prior to the stadium’s expansion to its current size.
The game lived up to the hype as both teams battled in a thrilling backand- forth contest. San Marcos scored first on a Juan Bastiste five-yard touchdown run only for Hays to answer with a 36yard touchdown run from Ricky Atwood.
In the second quarter, Shaun Contreras put the Rattlers out in front again with a one-yard touchdown run followed by a 17-yard touchdown pass from Chris Harris to Tyrone Lukey. Hays scored with 11 seconds before halftime on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Beau Robertson to Atwood, making the score 21-14.
The Hawks tied the game in the third quarter on an Atwood one-yard touchdown run as both teams entered the final period of the exciting contest.
Hays took back the lead for the first time since the first quarter when David Evans scored on a fiveyard touchdown run to put the Hawks up 28-21. San Marcos made one last attempt to tie the game with under a minute remaining but couldn’t convert on fourth down inside the redzone.
Hays later made the playoffs in the 4A Division 1 bracket where they fell to Belton in the Area round. San Marcos lost three games in a row to end the season with a 7-3 record but missed the playoffs.
cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc
