SMHS FOOTBALL
With East Central’s loss to Buda Johnson last Friday, San Marcos is officially in the playoffs as the Rattlers enter the bye week with one regular season game left on the schedule.
Despite clinching the postseason berth, there is still a lot to play for when the Rattlers take on rival New Braunfels Canyon in Week 11.
In Class 6A, the playoffs are separated into two brackets, Division I and Division II. Of the four teams that qualify for the postseasons in their respective districts, the two schools with the largest enrollment will play in the Division I bracket while the two schools with the smallest enrollment will play in the Division II bracket.
In the case of San Marcos having the secondsmallest enrollment [2,505] in 6A District 29, the Rattlers are automatically dropped into the Division II bracket no matter where they finish in the district standings.
Which makes the Rattlers game with Canyon more interesting. With the Cougars qualifying for the playoffs as well, Canyon enters the postseason with the smallest enrollment [2,433] in the district, dropping them down to Division II.
As it stands right now, both San Marcos and Canyon will drop into the Division II bracket while Cibolo Steele will go into the Division I bracket. The final playoff spot in District 29 will automatically be placed in Division 1 which is currently up for grabs between Buda Johnson, Converse Judson, San Antonio East Central and Schertz Clemens.
Though both San Marcos and Canyon have clinched their playoff berths, their Week 11 showdown will still have high stakes.
In both 6A and 5A, the Bi-District round of the playoffs gives homefield advantage to the team with the higher district finish. Meaning the winner of the San Marcos-Canyon game will have the chance to play at home in the playoffs for at least the first round while the loser will have to be on the road.
As for potential playoff opponents in Bi-District, the loser of San Marcos-Canyon will go on the road to Medina Valley, the 6A District 30 champion. The playoff opponent for the winner is murkier but the front runner appears to be Eagle Pass, with wins over Laredo Alexander and Laredo LBJ.
Postseason football is here for the Rattlers and the San Marcos has an opportunity to not only win their first playoff game since 2017 but go multiple rounds deep for the first time since 2006.
But the road to glory will not be an easy one for the Rattlers and the path to the postseason all starts next week.
