GAME REWIND
Prior to the 1997 season, the Rattlers were in a downward spiral.
Since the glory years of the 1960s, San Marcos had seemingly been unable to recapture the magic of those seasons, leading to a 31-year playoff drought with the Rattlers last above-500 season coming in 1982.
In fact, since moving up to now Class 6A in 1968, the Rattlers seemingly struggled to find their footing in their new classification, often competing against not only the best teams in the area but across the entire state.
The Rattlers were also in need of new leadership following the departure of George Losack who went 1-9 in the 1996, only lasting one season.
However, San Marcos found their person to lead the program in a South Texas legend in Bruce Bush.
Having been a head coach since 1976, Bush has seen success at every program he has been a part of, leading teams to multiple district championships and deep playoff runs at Pharr-San Juan-Alamo, Alice and Gregory-Portland while running his signature Slot-T offense.
After coaching at Donna in 1995 and 1996, Bush became the new head coach of the Rattlers prior to the start of the 1997 season.
The preseason expectations were very low for the Rattlers with Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine predicting San Marcos to place fifth in a six-team district with Austin Westlake, Austin Bowie, Austin Crockett, Austin High and Austin Johnston.
San Marcos started the season with a 21-17 win over the Austin Travis Rebels, the Rattlers first season opening win since 1988 as the team rushed for over 244 yards.
The Rattlers then followed up their season opening win with another victory, beating the Leander Lions 31-13 after scoring 28 unanswered points to seal the win one year after Leander defeated San Marcos 52-0.
San Marcos continued to roll with a dominating 49-6 win over the rival Seguin Matadors for the Rattlers first 3-0 start since 1975. The Rattlers racked over 500 yards of offense, including 427 on the ground and picked off the Matadors four times.
San Marcos suffered their first loss of the season in a 21-3 defeat against Pflugerville who went on to qualify for the playoffs. However the Rattlers bounced back to beat San Antonio McCollum 61-0 going into district play in one of the biggest wins in program history. Quarterback Logan O’Neill passed for 194 yards and three touchdowns while the Rattlers rushed for 332 yards.
The Rattlers opened up district play on the road against Austin Bowie in a game which would likely determine one of the three playoff spots.
Battling the raining conditions, San Marcos held off a Bowie comeback to defeat the Bulldogs 28-14 for a critical district win.
The Rattlers racked up another important district win as San Marcos defeated the Austin High Maroons 45-7. James Patterson led the team in rushing with 18 carries for 115 yards rushing and one touchdown, with the Rattlers dedicating the victory to his father who passed away after battling cancer the night before. The Rattlers ended the night rushing for 395 yards.
San Marcos moved one step closer to ending their playoff drought with another blowout win, beating the Austin Johnston Rams 56-7.
The Rattlers four-game winning streak came to an end as Austin Crockett defeated San Marcos 2719. However the defeat was not in vain as San Marcos clinched a playoff berth, their first taste of the postseason since 1966.
San Marcos ended the regular season against Austin Westlake where the Chaparrals defeated the Rattlers 27-7.
Finishing with a 7-3 regular season record, their best mark since 1982, the Rattlers clinched third place in District 25 and advanced to the postseason. During the regular season, San Marcos outscored their opponents 318-136 while rushing for over 2,600 yards. Running back Donnie Williams led the team in rushing with 94 carries for 671 yards and five touchdowns followed by Kevin Hoffman with 96 carries for 500 yards and three touchdowns. Chris Culp was third in rushing with 387 yards on 90 carries and a team high nine rushing touchdowns.
O’Neill led the team in passing with 948 yards and 12 touchdowns while Tyrone Luckey caught 15 passes for 288 yards and four touchdowns.
In the Bi-District round of the playoffs, the Rattlers met a familiar foe in the rival New Braunfels Unicorns led by quarterback Kliff Kingsbury, meeting for the first time since 1991 and their first time meeting in the postseason.
In front of an estimated 14,500 in attendance at UFCU Stadium, the Rattlers fought back from a 21-0 first half deficit only to fall to the Unicorns 27-21 despite outscoring New Braunfels 14-6 in the second half.
The 1997 season set the tone for the Bush era at San Marcos who didn’t have a losing season in all of his tenure, with the Rattlers winning two district titles and qualifying for the playoffs in six consecutive seasons.
1997 (7-4) @ Austin Travis W 2117 Non District vs Leander W 31-13 Non District vs Seguin W 49-6 Non District @ Pflugerville L 3-21 Non District vs San Antonio McCollum W 61-0 Non District @ Austin Bowie W 28--14 District vs Austin High W 45-7 District @ Austin Johnston W 56-7 District vs Austin Crockett L 1927 District @ Austin Westlake L 727 District vs New Braunfels L 2127 Bi-District
San Marcos snapped a 31-year playoff drought during the 1997 season, placing third in Class 5A District 25. Daily Record Archives
The Rattlers were led by first-year Head Coach Bruce Bush and ended the season rushing for over 2,600 yards. Daily Record Archives
An estimated 14,500 in attendance packed UFCU Stadium for the Rattlers Bi-District showdown against New Braunfels in the first meeting between the two I-35 rivals since 1991. Daily Record Archives
