Rattlers Drop Another District Game on the Road

Coach Steve Van Nest and the San Marcos Rattlers just can't seem to catch a break.

Despite having a more talented and well-rounded team than last year, the Rattlers are still struggling to win games this year as the New Braunfels Canyon Cougars popped the Rattlers 35-14 on Canyon's homecoming. It was by far the worst performance that SMHS turned in all season, and part of the poor play may have been to yet another disruption to team consistency that struck this week: the dreaded Swine Flu.

The Rattlers had to limit their total practices to 2 this week, as so many members of the team were out of commission due to various illnesses. If you add that on to previous disruptions of team consistency--a cancelled game by lightning in Bastrop, a bye week after Lampasas--then one has to wonder how much the team's development over the season has been hindered by these distractions. Don't take anything away from the Cougars though, they played a fantastic game.

Both teams started slowly in the first quarter, as the Cougars and Rattlers traded defensive stops and fumbles through the first 10 minutes. Then, with 1:58 remaining in the quarter, Canyon QB Lane Fife shook off the cobwebs and completed his first of three touchdown passes on the day. From then on, it was all Cougars. After the dust cleared at halftime, the Rattlers had given up a huge 45-yard touchdown pass and another 6-yard TD pass and trailed 21-0. Lane Fife almost carried his team on his back throughout the first half, as he would run straight past San Marcos blitzes when pressured and would pick apart the Rattler secondary when faced with defenders back in coverage.

San Marcos attempted to fight for a comeback in the third quarter as Rattler RB Kristian Cogdill--who put in a yeoman's effort on Friday with 139 rushing yards--punched it in from the 1 with 1:34 left in the 3rd quarter to make it 21-7, Canyon. However, the Cougars then snatched back any momentum that San Marcos accrued from the Cogdill run with a huge 34-yard touchdown connection from Fife to WR Donovan Wright. The Rattlers were able to drive down to inside the Canyon 10 with 3:54 left on the clock and the game in hand, but then disaster struck once again. On what would be QB Ryan Schweers' 2nd interception of the day, star safety for the Cougars Tyler Figol picked off the ball in the end zone and ran it back 100 yards (closer to 105 given how deep he was in the end zone) for a pick 6 to make it 35-7.

SMHS, as usual, didn't give up despite the back-breaking play, as Andre Ray brought back the kick return from the TD down to inside the Canyon 10. Kristian Cogdill was then able to punch it in from the 1 for his second touchdown of the day. However, the damage had already been done, and the Rattlers eventually suffered their second straight district loss to drop to 1-3 (0-2 27-4A).

What sparked this Rattler loss was a number of factors: The inability of the Rattlers to defend the Texas Tech-esque no-huddle passing offense of the Cougars, five Rattler turnovers (if you count turnovers on downs), the outstanding ability of Canyon to shut down the San Marcos rushing game, and six penalties that all seemed to come at the most inopportune times. The Rattlers will now how to win four out of their next 5 if they want a chance at sniffing the playoffs, and the team will likely be hoping for a consistent schedule this week to help turn in a complete performance against Kerrville Tivy on Friday. KTSW will have the live broadcast of the game from Bobcat Stadium, pregame coverage starts at 7:10 pm.

-Will Butler, KTSW Sports Director/Blog Editor