Rattlers Start Strong, But Knights Emerge Victorious

The San Marcos Rattlers suffered a defeat from the Cibolo Steele Knights on Friday night. The Knights, hailing from northern San Antonio, certainly proved why their team is ranked number 7 in the state of Texas with a final score of 44-20 over SMHS. Malcolm Brown, the six foot junior running back, led his team to victory by scoring five of their six touchdowns, two of which were runs over 50 yards.

The Rattlers came out strong, scoring the first touchdown of the game. It seemed as if the bye last week could have served them well. Their offense seemed explosive when Scooter Walker, the talented running back for the Rattlers had a 10 yard run to score the first points of the game with just about four in half minutes left in the first. The Knights, or should I say Malcolm Brown, quickly tied the score up then continued to score four more touchdowns throughout the second and third quarters.

Although San Marcos came out strong in the first quarter it wasn’t strong enough to penetrate Cibolo Steele’s powerful defense. Coach Van Nest said in the KTSW Pregame interview that SMHS would have to limit mental mistakes to clinch an upset win. Instead, the Rattlers made many mental errors resulting in more than 6 penalties throughout the game, 4 of which were called for encroachment.

On a positive note, the Rattlers’ Tomas Velasquez played a great game stepping up to fill the shoes of the first string. To quote KTSW color commentator James McNeal “Velasquez is definitely the Rattlers’ X-factor.” Not only did he have astounding defense by swatting down passes and creating huge tackles he also had a 77 yard run and a touchdown late in the third quarter. Hopefully this is a pre-cursor for what can be expected of Velasquez for the remainder of the season.

Next week the Rattlers are scheduled to play New Braunfels Canyon on the road, a game that San Marcos is certainly capable of winning. We will see if San Marcos brings their "A" game next week. If the Rattlers have any hopes of being successful they must limit mistakes and keep their offense rolling. You can listen in next week on 89.9 KTSW and ktsw.net, pregame starts at 7:10 pm and kickoff is at 7:30 pm.

-Lauren Scalise, KTSW Sports Staff Writer