SMHS FOOTBALL
San Marcos looks to move to 3-0 in district play as the Rattlers host the rival San Antonio East Central Hornets.
The Hornets enter the game with a 1-5 overall record with East Central’s lone win coming against San Antonio Roosevelt 42-13 in Week 2.
Last week, East Central took on Cibolo Steele where the Hornets fell to the Knights 49-0.
The Hornets offense has had an up-and-down year, averaging 45.5 points per game in the first two games of the season. But injuries took a toll on the Hornets in the last four games as East Central’s scoring average has dropped to 15.7 points. For the season, the Hornets are averaging 35.6 points per game.
Junior Isaiah Gonzalez has taken over the offense for the Hornets for senior Jay Crosby. Gonzalez has passed for 486 yards and six touchdowns while rushing for 63 yards on 20 carries.
Helping Gonzalez through the air is a trio of senior wide receivers in Joseph Kelly, Deirionn Smith-Cline and Ja’tarius Nichols.
Kelly leads the team in receiving yards with 26 catches for 383 and six touchdowns while Smith-Cline has caught 11 passes for 256 yards and three touchdowns. Nichols has made 15 catches for 236 yards and one touchdown.
On the ground, Juan Villarreal leads the team in rushing with 321 yards on 73 carries and five touchdowns.
Defensively the Hornets are led by senior linebacker Braylon Blair. Blair leads the team in total tackles with 46 and leads the team in solo tackles with 18. Junior Ray Gloria is second in total tackles with 34 and second in solo tackles with 17.
The Hornets have allowed an average of 35.1 points through six games.
The series history between San Marcos and East Central dates back to the late 1980s, when the two high schools became regular opponents, having played 10 out of 11 years.
The first ever meeting between the Rattlers and the Hornets took place during the 1986 season, when the two teams were paired as district opponents. East Central took the first game, beating San Marcos 23-20.
The two teams played eight consecutive games against each other from 1986-1993 with the Hornets winning seven out of the eight games. The Rattlers lone and first victory over East Central came during the 1988 season when San Marcos won a thriller 28-26.
The series was put on hiatus for over a decade until both teams were put in the same district again for the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
This time the Rattlers flipped the script and dominated both games, winning 69-20 in 2004, their first win over the Hornets since 1988, then winning 48-21 in 2005.
The series went on another long hiatus until 2014 where the teams have been consistent opponents for each other.
The Rattlers continued their winning ways against the Hornets with a pair of high scoring and thrilling victories, defeating East Central 5956 in 2014 followed up with a 45-44 in 2015.
The 2014 game featured quarterback and current Boston Red Sox David Hamilton passing for 131 yards and one touchdown while rushing for 387 yards on 19 carries and six touchdowns.
East Central snapped their four-game losing streak against San Marcos, winning their 2016 showdown 40-21 before the Rattlers defeated the Hornets 28-0 in 2017. The Hornets rattled off two more victories in 2018 and 2019 in district play. San Marcos and East Central were scheduled to play as non-district opponents during the 2020 season, but the COVID-19 Pandemic shortened the non-district schedule for 6A and 5A schools, forcing the game to be canceled.
The series returned for the 2021 season with the Rattlers defeating the Hornets 28-16.
Reunited as district rivals once again for the 2022 season, the Rattlers and the Hornets faced off in another classic. San Marcos defeated East Central 20-16 after the Rattlers completed a double-reverse pass to score the game-winning touchdown with less than a minute remaining in the game to clinch a playoff berth.
East Central bounced back to win the last two meetings between the two teams including a 50-0 win over the Rattlers during the 2024 season.
The Hornets lead the overall series against San Marcos 12-8.
Kickoff for San Marcos- East Central is set for Friday Oct. 10 at 7:30 p.m.
This will be the 21st all-time meeting between San Marcos and East Central, making the Hornets the most played opponent in District 29 for the Rattlers. East Central leads the all-time series 12-8. Daily Record photo by Colton McWilliams
