SAN MARCOS -- Buck Steyn threw for 209 yards and a touchdown, six running backs combined for 232 yards and four touchdowns, and the San Marcos defense strangled the Buda Johnson offense in a 40-7 win Friday in the District 29-6A opener at Toyota Rattler Stadium.
“That's the most important thing,” Head Coach John Walsh said. “You start making your footprint now on the way to the playoffs, and tonight's really important to set the tone and start that momentum. Our defense led the way. They've led the way all year long and I don't think they're going to stop.”
Steyn, who was held to 15 yards in last week’s lopsided loss to Lake Travis, carved the Jaguars defense with a 16-for-26 night passing, throwing his only interception on a heave into the end zone on the last play of the first half and the Rattlers leading by 13.
Justin Tardy led all rushers with 71 yards and a touchdown, followed by Donovan Garcia with 58 and a touchdown, and Elliott Gray added a 35-yard touchdown run as part of a 43-yard night. Steyn added a 20-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
“Every drive we didn't score, we beat ourselves,” Walsh said. “All year long, we haven't been able to say that. … But this tonight, it was just us against us, and we just had to quit being knuckleheads.”
Meanwhile, the Rattlers defense scored its first touchdown of the season when Jah’Marien Nichols sacked Jags quarterback Jace Tello and forced a fumble, which Trey Walker recovered and took 12 yards into the end zone early in the second half for a 19-0 lead.
Tello, who completed one of 7 passes for 5 yards, later left the game after a lengthy injury timeout.
His replacement Jonah Montgomery, managed to get Johnson on the board with a 70-yard catch-and-run touchdown pass to Keane McGettrick with just under five minutes remaining in the game.
That single play put Johnson in positive yards on offense for the night with a total of 62 on 32 plays. The Jags had negative five yards on 18 plays in the first half and the game with minus-28 yards on 23 carries.
“We came a long way,” Senior defensive end I’zayah Young said. “We've been together since we were little. It's all the way now. We always kept that mindset of ‘No one's scoring on us.’ We just come out there being relentless and we just have that mentality just being dogs. Can't nobody mess with us.
“It's just every day in practice, we take things seriously. We hustle around and fly around. It's a brotherhood on that defensive side.”
The win boosts San Marcos to 1-0 in district and 3-2 overall. The Rattlers will be at Schertz Clemens (2-3 overall, 0-1 in district) on Friday. Clemens lost to five-time defending district champion Cibolo Steele, 48-20 last week.
Johnson fell to 1-4 overall and takes on New Braunfels Canyon (2-2), which had a bye last week.
San Marcos 40, Buda Johnson 7 (29-6A opener)
| JHS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | -- | 7 |
| SMHS | 7 | 6 | 13 | 14 | -- | 40 |
First Quarter
SMHS - Darius Davis 21 pass from Buck Steyn (Julio Alvarado kick), 5:11
Second Quarter
SMHS - Elliott Gray 3 run (kick failed), 6:35
Third Quarter
SMHS - Trey Walker 12 fumble return (kick failed), 9:26
SMHS - Buck Steyn 20 run (Alvarado kick), 4:29
Fourth Quarter
SMHS - Donovan Garcia 10 run (Alvarado kick), 10:30
SMHS - Justin Tardy 19 run (Alvarado kick), 5:30
JHS - Keane McGettrick 70 pass from Jonah Montgomery (Rigoberto Alonzo-Vences kick), 4:53
| JHS | SMHS | |
| First Downs | 2 | 25 |
| Total Plays-Net Yds | 32-62 | 66-441 |
| Rushes-Yds | 23--28 | 40-232 |
| Passing | 90 | 209 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 3-9-0 | 16-26-1 |
| Sacked-Yds Lost | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Punts-Net Avg. | 7-32 | 0-0 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 3-0 | 1-0 |
| Penalties-Yds | 1-5 | 8-50 |
| Time of Poss | 16:48 | 31:12
|
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - JHS: Maddox Martinez 6-5, Jason Beck 6-4, Jonah Montgomery 2--12, Jace Tello 9--25; SMHS: Justin Tardy 10-71, Donovan Garcia 12-58, Elliott Gray 5-43, Ysreal Colton 5-26, Buck Steyn 5-21, Jaiden Narro 3-13
PASSING - JHS: Jonah Montgomery 2-2-0 85, Jace Tello 1-7-0 5; SMHS: Buck Steyn 16-26-1 209
RECEIVING - JHS: Keane McGettrick 2-75, Jayden Garcia 1-15; SMHS: Jordan Lampkin 5-56, Hank Harris 3-50, Justin Tardy 2-35, Darius Davis 1-21, Aiden Benavidez 2-20, Luke Pantanac 1-14, Elliott Gray 1-7, Darrian Cruz 1-6
