Rattlers end year with first win of season over Canyon

Emotions were high on a cold Friday night in New Braunfels as both teams were playing for their first win of the season. 

The Rattlers came into town looking to spoil Canyon’s Senior Night and did so with complimentary football as the defense forced a season-high four fumbles, while the offense put up over 300 yards. Both sides of the ball contributed to San Marcos’ first district win since Nov. 9th, 2017, as the visitors picked up a 27-22 victory on the road.

“This is one of my favorite bunches to work with,” head coach Mark Soto said. “Every day, they came with smiles on their faces, thought positive and went to work. They did more than anybody’s ever done for us. They did more bootcamp, they did more summer training, they did more 7-on-7, they did more of everything. And they battled every day and that’s impressive. It’s a great bunch of guys.”

Soto said earlier this week in practice that the team that starts fast and keeps that momentum going would go on to win the game. It’s what the Rattlers stuck by during Friday’s win.

The game began with an onside kick that caught the hosts off guard, giving San Marcos its second week in a row with an onside recovery and got the crowd behind them early on the road. The Rattlers traveled down the field but were unable to convert a 28-yard field goal attempt.

Canyon (0-10, 0-7 District) opened up the first drive of the game with eight consecutive run plays for positive yardage but the Rattler defense came up with a big stop on 3rd and 6, forcing the field goal unit to trot onto the field. New Braunfels kick was good, giving them the 3-0 lead to start the game. 

The hosts continued to pound the ball down the field on the ground. Junior running back Micah Williford broke out for two 20-yard runs that had big-play potential but both were stopped by junior cornerback Quddus Ogunbase over the middle. San Marcos’ defense continued to make stops and on 3rd and 9 they were able to do the same thing, earning the ball back for the team’s offense.

The visitors first two plays got nowhere, but on 3rd and 11 the Cougar defense was tacked with offsides and pass interference penalties, extending the Rattlers drive. After a two-yard run on first down, senior Alex Garcia dropped back to throw on second. The quarterback took a huge hit to his chest but got a throw off to his trusted receiver, senior Takai Madgett, who hauled it in from 32 yards out. The touchdown gave the Rattlers their first lead of the night , 7-3, and from there they never relinquished the lead again. 

On Canyon’s first play of the next drive, junior quarterback Dallas Gomez nearly got a first down before the defense swarmed to the ball and forced its first fumble of the night.

The fumble recovery led to a 55-yard bubble screen caught by junior Kannon Webb, who took it all the way down the left sideline and eventually was caught at the 1-yard line. That set up the misdirection handoff to senior tight end Ronnie Perez for the score, as San Marcos took a 14-3 lead. 

Canyon responded with an 8-play, 71-yard drive capped off by junior running back Jack Loos’ 27-yard touchdown. The Cougars went for two but failed to convert.

San Marcos failed to get any ground on its next drive and was stuck in its own territory. The punt gave Canyon good field position until the Rattlers took it right back on another fumble recovery. On the third play, Garcia hit Madgett around the 50-yard line. The senior wide receiver shook off a defender and took it 85 yards to the house, giving San Marcos a 20-9 lead heading into halftime.

The third quarter was a defensive battle as both teams were held scoreless.

From there the Rattlers looked to separate themselves from the pack. They pulled out all the stops on offense to open up the fourth quarter, including the swinging gate formation which resulted in a 23-yard pickup. Garcia found Madgett once again, this time for a 40-yard touchdown that extended the lead to 16 with 11 minutes left in the game.

It wasn’t over just yet, though.

The hosts scored two touchdowns down the wire to cut the lead to five with 1:12 remaining in the game. They set up the ball for an onside kick but the purple and white  special teams were well prepared for it, falling on the ball and securing the win.

Soto described the win as awesome.

“It’s great for our seniors to go out with a win, they’ve been busting their tails all season long Soto said. “They’ve been doing things that we need to do to win. It’s just, we’ve got some tough competition. It’s hard when your fighting goliath every week. I’m really proud of them for staying in there. Their spirit never broke, they were unbroken the whole year. They came up every Friday and played ball hard.”

Madgett finished his last game with three touchdowns and over 1,100 all-purpose yards on the season. The senior also averaged 86.6 receiving yards per game to finish out his career as a Rattler. The wide receiver had tears running down his eyes as he did all he could to make sure he and his teammates finished this season with a win.

“I just love my community, I love my teammates so much,” Madgett said. “Its really been a long ride ever since … little league and just being with those guys and getting better with them all these years has really taken me to the next level as a person and as a football player. I wouldn’t want it any other way and I wouldn’t have wanted to play with any other team.”

San Marcos (1-9, 1-6) finishes its season with a road win and now will head into the offseason with intentions of building from there.