SMHS FOOTBALL
The final home game of the 2025 season and this year’s Homecoming game is setting up to be an absolute classic as San Marcos host the Cibolo Steele Knights with the winner taking one step closer to clinching the District 29 title.
The Rattlers bounced back from their district loss to East Central to defeat the Judson Rockets 27-17 last Friday to maintain both their postseason and district title hopes. It was San Marcos’ first win over Judson since 1975.
Steele was off this past week but the Knights have rolled through district play with several dominating wins. Steele has defeated rival Clemens [48-20], East Central [49-0] and Judson [48-14] to stay perfect in district play.
But the Knights dominance hasn’t stopped there. Steele has won a share of the district championship in the last five seasons with their last district loss coming in 2020 against Judson. Coming into San Marcos, the Knights are riding a 39-game district winning streak.
The big showdown for this week’s game will be the Cibolo Steele offense against the San Marcos defense, considered to be the two best units in District 29.
Steele’s offense has continued to roll over opponents, averaging 39.1 points per game, including averaging 48.3 points per game in district play. The San Marcos defense has allowed an average of 21.3 points per game and 19.3 points per game in district play.
Steele is led by senior running back Jonathan Hatton who is currently committed to Texas A&M. Hatton leads the team in rushing with 823 yards on 95 carries and 11 touchdowns. In the past two seasons with the Knights, Hatton has rushed for over 1,200 yards. Hatton didn’t play in Cibolo Steele’s game against Judson.
Behind Hatton is the running back duo of sophomore Liam Jones and junior Marshall Kenner. Jones is second in rushing with 354 carries on 45 carries and four touchdowns while Kenner has rushed for 34 264 yards on 34 carries and four touchdowns.
Quarterback D.J. Green has led the offense through the air, passing for 894 yards, 13 touchdowns and no interceptions.
Green’s main targets have been senior Micah Sheeler and junior Jamin Harvell. Sheeler leads the team with 26 catches for 384 yards and seven touchdowns while Harvell has 22 catches for 367 yards and four touchdowns.
While the main showcase will be the Steele offense and the San Marcos defense, the flip side will determine who comes out the victor.
Through seven games, Steele’s defense has allowed an average of 16.5 points per game while the San Marcos offense has scored an average of 29.2 points per game.
Senior Jared Ibarra leads the team in total tackles with 83 along with 22 solo tackles and 6.0 tackles for loss. Senior Julian Hugo leads the team in tackles for loss with 12.0.
The series history between San Marcos and Cibolo Steele dates back to 2008, where the two schools have been consistent opponents.
Unfortunately for San Marcos, Steele has dominated the series, defeating the Rattlers 11 consecutive times.
Kickoff for San Marcos- Steele is set for Friday Oct. 24 at Toyota Rattler Stadium. The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.
