Rattlers Come Alive in the Second Half to Beat the Badgers

Despite it being a slippery night at Bobcat Stadium, the San Marcos Rattlers opened up their first home game of the season against the Lampasas Badgers with a huge 33 to 0 victory. The Rattlers started off their home opening game with a Parent Recognition Ceremony before the kick off. To start things off in the first quarter, Aaron Nunez helped the Rattlers put up an early lead over the badgers with a 25 yard field goal to put up a 3 to 0 score for the Rattlers.

The first half of the game was a bit stop and go for both teams. There were a couple fumbles and flags thrown out. Both teams seemed to be having trouble with turnovers and keeping control of the ball. Things didn’t look good for the Rattlers during a play early in the 2nd quarter, as Scooter Walker fumbled a ball that was picked up by the Badger QB/CB Vann Millican, who rushed the ball for about 20 yards before being pulled down by Walker himself. After the play Mike Wilburn, who was at the 45-yard line had to be helped off the field. He did not return to the game but had his left ankle iced and wrapped, the extent of his injury wasn’t clear. Despite the devastating injury to Wilburn, the Rattlers had to keep it together and focus the rest of the game. Aaron Nunez answered that call in the second quarter, as he nailed another field goal from 21 yards to make the score 6 to nothing Rattlers going into half time.

Coming out in the second half, the San Marcos Rattlers looked like a completely different team. Ryan Schweers came out with a big pass to Scooter Walker who had a 1-yard rush for a huge momentum-stirring touchdown for the Rattlers. Nunez then kicked a good PAT to put the Rattlers up 13 to nothing to start the half. An outstanding defensive effort by San Marcos on the next possession shut down an already frustrated Lampasas offense and put momentum squarely in the camp of SMHS. The Rattlers defense was dominant throughout the game, but they really stepped it up and just nullified the Badger offense in the second half.

The end of the 3rd quarter saw an important play come through for the Rattlers, as Schweers handed it off to Terrence Wilburn, who plowed through two Badgers for an 8 yard gain. Schweers then came up with a big pass to Andre Ray, who scored a 7-yard touchdown for the Rattlers to extend the Rattler lead to 20.

Feeding off that excitement, the San Marcos Rattlers put up another big play to lead the team in the last quarter. Ryan Shweers made sure his team stayed on top with a huge touchdown pass to the senior Tomas Velasquez with 10:39 left in the game. Velasquez's great catch put an impressive 26 under the home side of the scoreboard next to a disappointing zero for Lampasas.

Despite the huge lead, the Rattlers were not finished scoring yet and played until the whistle blew, possibly playing one of their best halves they have had in over a year. The San Marcos Rattlers finished up the game with a pass to Emanuel Saldana with a big 17 yard run to end the game with an impressive 33 to 0 score. After their victorious night in their home opener, the Rattlers will take a week off before taking on Cibolo Steele here in San Marcos. For complete game coverage make sure to tune into KTSW 89.9, with the pre-game show starting off at 7:10 pm.

-Karina Medellin, KTSW Sports Staff Writer