Rattlers fall to Vipers in playoffs, 52-14, look to raise their ceiling

AUSTIN — After Friday’s game, senior tight end Elijah Pearson's emotions defined the season for the Rattlers. 

Following San Marcos’ 52-14 playoff loss to Austin Vandegrift (10-1, 6-1 District 25-6A), Pearson stood on the sideline of Ed W. Monroe Memorial Stadium with his helmet looking down at the helmet in his hand. His face held back tears after his final game in a Rattler uniform.

“I’m just ready to get back to work,” Pearson said.

.@RattlersSM HFC John Walsh (@jwalshrattler) on tonight’s game against Austin Vandegrift, this year’s seniors, and the season. ⤵️

Part 1:@smdrsports pic.twitter.com/TWXjRdGHtn

— Jude McClaren (@judemcclaren) November 13, 2021

Instead of complaining about injuries early in the season after an 0-2 start, the Rattlers got just a little bit healthy and picked up a win. Immediately after that, they were tasked with taking on two top-10 teams in the state. They didn’t complain, they just kept working.

That led San Marcos to winning three of its next four. And after losing its biggest game of the year to Austin Bowie, they again turned their attention to another big game — a win-or-go-home grudge match against Austin Akins. They completed the task despite getting blown out the week before. 

Coming off a Friday night of happiness and smiles, the mood throughout the week remained calm, cool and collected heading into the purple and white’s first postseason appearance in four years. 

But that mood changed drastically throughout the Rattler sideline after fumbling on four of its first five possessions. The loss made Walsh reflect on his team and what they did well in his eyes all year long. 

“No cliques, I mean, they are in it for each other,” Walsh said about this group of kids. “They work with and for each other, they play with and for each other. I haven't had — there's no prima donnas. When they break out on ‘family,’ I really feel like it's a good, Rattler football ‘family.’ 

“I love (the seniors). It's hard to get words in after a game when they're done, you see them crying … They made our job easy on the turnaround. We’ve always talked about how quick they trusted us. So just really proud of them and I’m hurting for them right now.”

San Marcos (5-6, 4-3 District 26-6A) came into the game with a new game plan to combat Vandegrift’s elite defense. The offense wanted to take their time up by waiting until the six-second mark on the play clock to run up to the line of scrimmage and snap the ball right away.

The plan slowed the game down tremendously, which the Rattlers planned for — both teams combined for a lowly three drives in the first quarter. But the visitors couldn't keep a hold of the ball. A fumble on the first drive led to a Wyatt Shepard 3-yard rushing touchdown. 

San Marcos’ second drive matched its first, moving the ball down the field with ease. But the end result was the same after 35 yards of positive offense — a fumble recovered by the Vipers. The recovery put Vandegrift on its own 32 and the hosts ate up the rest of the time of the clock heading into the second quarter. Even after two fumbles, the Rattlers' game plan stood intact, only trailing 7-0 after one quarter.

However, Vandegrift’s confidence had already skyrocketed from the two turnovers its defense had caused and the stops continued to put the hosts in exceptional field position almost every time. The Vipers scored a touchdown on all six of their drives, leaving them with a 42-0 lead heading into the half — the largest first-half deficit for the Rattlers this season.

“The game plan was to make the game fast, make the clock run,” Walsh explained. “We knew we could run the football on them and we did. I bet if we do the average per play, we're close to seven yards per play moving the ball. You just can't turn it over. So the first quarter was seven to nothing with a turnover. That's a good quarter for us right there. Just punch one in and we're a one-score game. We just kept hurting ourselves in the second quarter and you can't overcome four turnovers in one half against a team like that.”

San Marcos did succeed at their scheme in the second half. The Rattlers burned seven minutes off of the clock on a 15-play, 90-yard drive resulting in a one-yard touchdown from junior running back Jaidyn Brown but the team’s had no chance at a comeback. Vandergrift’s bench was already celebrating the hosts’ advancement to the next round of the playoffs by the end of the third quarter.

Although the season left the visitors feeling desolate, they still feel like they accomplished everything they set out to do at the start of the offseason last year. The proof in Walsh’s recipe stands. The offensive line last offseason got impressively stronger. That allowed the run game to pick up, increasing from 1,779 rushing yards last season to 3,006 yards on the ground before tonight’s game ended. San Marcos improved from a 2-7 record in 2020 to 5-5 this year as a result.

The Rattlers will turn their attention back to the weight room this offseason, where Walsh continues to emphasize the importance of size up front and getting better in every category — just as they did last year. 

“My first evaluation coming in last May, June, July, I would not have imagined we'd be as far along as we are right now,” Walsh said. “It's a tribute to the kids who start to pay. You know, we’ve got great coaches here. We’ve got a great administration that supports us. So it takes all of it to make that work, and we're all making it work. So I think we're ahead of schedule.”

That ready-to-work attitude symbolizes their seniors' sentiments after the game. The team is ready to get back to work for next season. 

“There's a high ceiling for us,” Walsh said. “If that offseason got us from (last year) to here, then that ceiling is still way up there and in every category — in strength, physical strength, and how we move on the football field. And all that equates to some mental strength. When all that happens, you get more confident. I think you see us walking around with confidence now. But our ceiling’s way high. If it's a 10-foot wall, we're at foot No. 3 right now.”

San Marcos Final Stats

QB Isaiah DeLeon
8-18, 97 passing yards, INT
18 carries, 97 rushing yards

RB Jaidyn Brown
0-1, 0 passing yards
17 carries, 97 rushing yards
1 catch, 4 receiving yards

RB Kanui Guidry
12 carries, 58 rushing yards

RB Jake Rodriguez-Scholz
3 carries, 30 rushing yards

WR Tony Diaz
4 catches, 62 receiving yards

WR Nathan Henry
2 catches, 35 receiving yards