FRIDAY FOOTBALL PREVIEW

San Marcos will look for their first win of the season in district play as the Rattlers travel down I-35 into Schertz to take the Clemens Buffaloes.

As the Rattlers were on the bye week, Head Coach John Walsh took the week to rest up and prep for district play.

“I’m a big believer in fresh bodies and fresh minds are more productive,” Walsh said. “We backed off quite a bit and worked on some things we needed to get better at one of them being ball security.”

Being in one of the toughest districts in the region, the Rattlers be prepared to battle week in and week out with every playoff spot up for grabs.

“Our entire district is pretty tough,” Walsh said. “If you take Steele out because they are the cream of the crop, it’s a challenge week in and week out. Last year when we played (Clemens), they are well coached. They know how to do it and they do it well.”

In last year’s meeting, San Marcos knocked off Clemens 28-24 for the Rattlers first win over the Buffaloes since 1981.

Clemens heads into this year’s game with a 2-3 record.

The Buffaloes have notched wins over Del Rio and Austin Del Valle while losing to San Antonio Madison, Cedar Park Vista Ridge, and Odessa High.

Though the task won’t be easy, Walsh is confident if the Rattlers improve on what they worked on during the bye week, San Marcos has the ability to notch their first win of the season.

“On defense we are at the right spots but we need to make the tackle,” Walsh said. “Offensively there are not many times in the last five games that people have three and outed us. We either turn the ball over or we get behind the chains in penalties. ... If we can fix ourselves in those two categories, we can make a lot of these district ballgames interesting.”

Kickoff for San Marcos- Clemens is set for 7:30 tonight at Lehnhoff Stadium in Schertz.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc