No one was terribly surprised when it finally happened, but once the fight started, there was little anyone could do to stop it.
The San Marcos Rattlers first gave up their momentum, then several players to ejections early in the fourth quarter, and ultimately the lead Friday night in a 28-24 loss to the San Antonio East Central Hornets in District 29-6A football action Friday at San Marcos Toyota Stadium.
Tempers finally boiled over near the end of a Julio Alvarado punt that bounced and rolled inside the East Central 10 before it was downed early in the fourth quarter. Away from the play, however, a scrap between three players quickly escalated into a brawl.
Players from both teams, including the benches on both sidelines, rushed onto the field. The melee moved from the East Central 15 to close to midfield before referees, coaches and even law enforcement were able to restore order.
More than a dozen players were ejected between the two teams, which not only took several Rattlers starters out of the lineup for the remainder of the game, but put them in jeopardy to participate in this week’s game against Judson in Converse.
East Central, which had a total of 52 yards at halftime, finally cracked the Rattlers defense and
scored on 75- and 65-yard catch-and-run pass plays on back-to-back possessions in the third quarter, then, with so many Rattlers starters on the sideline following the ejections, hit a third long pass play, this for 68 yards with 5:52 remaining.
San Marcos appeared to strike back with a 68-yard touchdown run from quarterback Buck Steyn, but the play was called back for holding. The Ratters punted three plays later, only to have that same short-handed punt team give up a 32-yard return, setting the Hornets up at the San Marcos 40 with 3:09 remaining.
The Rattlers defense forced East Central into a fourth-and-20, which the Hornets converted when receiver Dei’Rionn Smith-Cline outjumped a pair of defenders and hauled in a 29-yard pass from quarterback Isaish Gonzalez.
A pass interference call on a pass that appeared uncatchable again saved the Hornets, this time converting a third-and-3 at the 14 into a first-and-goal from the 2 as the clock ticked under a minute remaining.
Running back Raymundo Gloria, working out of the wildcat formation, scored nearly untouched from 3 yards out moments later to give the Hornets their only lead of the game.
Steyn and the Rattlers moved the ball to midfield, but East Central finished the Rattlers off by intercepting Steyn’s Hail Mary heave to the goal line as the clock ran out.
The loss snapped a two-game San Marcos district win streak and came in spite of the fact that the Rattlers offense set a new season-high for total yards for the third straight game with 496.
Steyn, who was efficient in the first half, tailed off in the second to finish with 247 yards on 16-of-32 passing with the last-second interception.
Receiver Hank Harris caught four passes for a season-high 137 yards and a touchdown, followed by Aiden Benavidez with six catches for 68 yards.
Running back Justin Tardy went over 100 yards for the second straight game and third time this season with 109 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. Steyn added another 89 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Gonzalez completed 14 of 21 passes for 295 yards, most of which came on the long touchdown passes. Smith-Cline led all receivers with 182 yards and a pair of touchdowns on six receptions, followed by Ja’Tarius Nichols with 67 yards and a touchdown on a pair of receptions.
ECHS 0 0 14 14 -- 28
SMHS 0 21 3 0 -- 24
Second Quarter
SMHS - Buck Steyn 10 run (Julio Alvarado kick), 11:56
SMHS - Justin Tardy 7 run (Alvarado kick), 2:16
SMHS - Hank Harris 74 pass from Steyn (Alvarado kick), 0:09
Third Quarter
SMHS - FG: 26, Alvarado, 7:19
ECHS - Dei'Rionn Smith-Cline 75 pass from Isaiah Gonzalez (Nathan Camarillo kick), 6:20
ECHS - Ja'Tarius Nichols 65 pass from Gonzalez (Camarillo kick), 4:17
Fourth Quarter
ECHS - Smith-Cline 68 pass from Gonzalez (Camarillo kick), 5:52
ECHS - Raymundo Gloria 3 run (Camarillo kick), 0:21
ECHS SMHS
First Downs 12 24
Total Plays-Net Yds 38-275 71-496
Rushes-Yds 17--20 39-249
Passing 295 247
Comp-Att-Int 14-21-0 16-32-1
Sacked-Yds Lost 1-0 1-4
Punts-Net Avg. 5-40 1-34
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yds 1-5 10-100
Time of Poss 16:43 31:17
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - ECHS: Raymundo Gloria 2-5, Ja'Taruis Nichols 1--2, Juan Carlos Villareal 1--3, Keyontre Davis 1--10, Isaiah Gonzalez 12--10; SMHS: Justin Tardy 15-109, Buck Steyn 13-89, Donovan Garcia 8-24, Elliott Gray 2-24, Jah'Marien Nichols 1-3
PASSING - ECHS: Gonzalez 14-21-0 295; SMHS: Buck Steyn 16-32-1 247
RECEIVING - ECHS: Dei'Rionn Smith-Cline 6-182, Ja'Tarius Nichols 2-67, Joseph Kelley 2-35, Keyontrae Davis 3-12, Juan Carlos Villareal 1-3; SMHS: Hank Harris 4-137, Aiden Benavidez 6-68, Justin Tardy 2-16, I'zayah Young 1-11, Mason McGuire 1-8, Ellioitt Gray 1-4, Donovan Garcia 1-3
