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Photo by Lance Winter

Rattlers shut out by Bulldogs at home, 42-0

San Marcos Football
Saturday, October 30, 2021

The Rattlers weren’t prepared for the challenge this week. 

San Marcos came into the week riding a hot three-game win streak but the hype coming into a third-place game may have rattled the purple and white. Austin Bowie tamed all of the noise by dominating their opponent 42-0 to solidify their spot in the 2021 playoffs. 

The Bulldogs (7-2, 4-2 district) made it look easy by scoring on 100% of their first-half drives, digging a 35-0 hole for San Marcos (4-5, 3-3) to try to claw out of. Head coach John Walsh said he takes full responsibility for not having his team ready to play. 

“I told them at halftime, it was a whipping from the start in the first half,” Walsh said. “I just said, ‘We gotta look within ourselves and make sure we don't lose the (second) half like we lost the first half.’ And we didn’t, it was only 7-0 in the second half. But what I just told them was, whether they’re the better team or not and they were gonna beat us tonight, ‘Them beating us 42 to nothing is on John Walsh. Your head coach didn't have you ready.’ And I told them I'll be better next week for them.”

Bowie made up its mind that if it kept the high-scoring offense of San Marcos off the field, it wouldn’t have to worry about points being put on the board. On the first drive of the game, the Bulldogs ate 5:59 off of the clock with short-yardage gains. Finally, junior quarterback Connor Kenyon connected with senior receiver Cash Peters on a 32-yard catch, which put the visitors on their opponent’s side of the field for the first time. A pass interference call on 2nd and 6 against San Marcos gave Bowie a fresh set of downs on the Rattler 2-yard line, which eventually led to the district’s second-leading rusher Noah Camacho punching in a two-yard rushing touchdown. Comacho found the end zone again on the next drive from 18 yards out.

As Bowie’s offense moved, the Rattlers’ strong suit on the ground was held in check. The hosts were only able to string together 48 rushing yards in the first half, mostly due to the Bulldogs’ game plan to stack the box.

“They load the box against everybody. Even watching the Westlake game and Lake Travis game,” Walsh said. “Every yard was hard. Like, you would hand the ball off and someone was getting hit. And you just gotta make plays down the field. And you know, we couldn't protect. I thought it was gonna be tough yards. I thought it'd be sloppy at the front but I thought we would settle in and we just never settled in.

“I think yeah, we haven't seen that defense yet. You know, so I think just the angles and the pressure they put on you from the 3-3 stacks, I think I think it affected us for that whole half … Like I said, it's all on me. I gotta figure out a way to teach it better.”

The second half was more of a struggle for San Marcos, as it opened up the third quarter with a three-and-out. Bowie, on the other hand, continued its perfection on the offensive side of the ball with a 15-yard receiving touchdown by Anthony Simmons. The sixth drive and the sixth touchdown of the night for Bowie rewarded them with a 42-0 lead early in the third quarter. On the Bulldogs next drive, they were forced to punt for the first time with 43 seconds left in the third quarter. San Marcos did put together a solid drive with 8 plays for positive yardage — the most yards gained on a drive by the Rattlers — but even that drive was stalled by a fumble caused and recovered by the visitors. 

Neither team scored following that drive leaving, Bowie with a 42-0 shutout win over the Rattlers. 

San Marcos has another chance to solidify their playoff hopes next against Austin Akins (4-5, 2-4) on the road. Walsh said this loss won’t define what can happen the rest of the way out this season. 

“We gotta punch our ticket now. Now it is for sure you win, you're in,” Walsh emphasized. “If we don't, we’re in a stupid tiebreaker. We don't want to be in a tiebreaker, so we still control our own destiny. And then just make sure we’re thorough. We know every day matters. Every session we have matters and we'll be ready.”

The Rattlers and Eagles play at 7:30 p.m. inside Burger Stadium. A San Marcos win would push them into the playoffs for the first time since 2017. An Akins win would force a tiebreaker.

 

San Marcos Stats

QB Isaiah DeLeon
6-15, 41 passing yards
8 carries, 13 rushing yards

RB Jaidyn Brown
14 carries, 86 rushing yards
2 catches, 19 receiving yards

RB Kanui Guidry
8 carries, 36 rushing yards

Jake Rodriguez-Scholz
2 carries, 8 rushing yards

WR Jamil Gordon
2 catches, 5 receiving yards

WR Tony Diaz
1 catch, 10 receiving yards

TE Elijah Pearson
1 catch, 7 receiving yards

San Marcos Record

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P.O. Box 1109, San Marcos, TX 78666