San Marcos closes out the 2023 regular season against the East Central Hornets. The Rattlers are looking for their third consecutive win over the Hornets following their thrilling 20-16 win over East Central last year.
Daily Record photo by Gerald Castillo
COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF
Rattlers wrap up season against East Central
The final Countdown to Kickoff for 2023 previews the final San Marcos Rattlers regular season game.
This week will look at the final regular season game of the year as San Marcos will host the East Central Hornets.
In their last meeting, the Rattlers won a thriller as San Marcos defeated East Central 20-16 on a double reverse pass with less than a minute left in the game.
The win sealed a second consecutive playoff berth for San Marcos while East Central was sent home along with Schertz Clemens avoiding a three way tie for fourth place.
The Hornets finished the season with a 3-7 overall record which included a forfeit win over Converse Judson to keep their playoff hopes alive.
East Central will look to reload coming into the 2023 season with only three returners on offense and four returners on defense.
Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine predicts East Central will finish sixth in District 27.
One of the more notable returners for the Hornets is quarterback Austin Vivier.
A threat both in the air and the ground, Viver threw for 900 yards and three touchdown passes while rushing for 853 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns for the Hornets.
The defense will be led by defensive lineman Tegunn Viator who racked up 62 tackles for East Central.
Joining Viator is linebacker Myron Robinson who led the team in tackles with 67.
This will be the 19th overall meeting between East Central and San Marcos with the series dating back to the late 1980s.
The first game between the Hornets and the Rattlers took place in 1986 in the regular season finale as San Marcos lost to East Central 23-20.
The Rattlers first win over East Central came in 1988 as San Marcos defeated the Hornets 28-26.
From 1986-1993, San Marcos and East Central were paired in the same district with the Hornets leading the series at 1-7.
The two teams took a decade long break before meeting up again in 2004 back again as district bunkmates.
The Rattlers defeated the Hornets 69-20 in the district opener for San Marcos first win over East Central since 1988.
With 18 overall meetings between the two teams, East Central leads the overall series over San Marcos at 10-8 with the Rattlers riding a two game winning streak over the Hornets.
Kickoff for East Central and San Marcos is Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m. at Toyota Rattler Stadium in San Marcos.
cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc
