San Marcos Edges Out Anderson

By Brenden Snow
Sports Reporter

The San Marcos Rattlers faced Austin’s Anderson Trojans in an absolute dogfight Friday night at Nelson Park in Austin, Texas. The 3-0 Rattlers did not look like themselves early in the game.

Anderson jumped out to a 21-0 lead early in the second, and things were not looking good for the visitors. Special teams came to play a big role early in this one. A muffed punt inside his own 10 yard line by Prudy-Calderon led to an Anderson score, then the next drive, the Rattlers attempted a fake punt and came up short, leading to another Trojans score and two point conversion to go up 14-0.

Quickly after falling behind 21-0, the Rattlers were able to put together back-to-back scoring drives and make it 28-14 late in the second quarter. Then, on an Anderson drive, Prudy-Calderon made up for his earlier fumble and picked off Anderson and allowed Jamon Johnson to punch it in.

Coming out of the half trailing 28-21, the Rattlers defense made another play, this time an interception by TaShambrae Brown, which when on to lead to another San Marcos touchdown and tied the game at 28.

Special Teams came back to play another factor as Anderson scored a touchdown, missed the PAT, were able to score again, went for two and did not convert. What should have been a 42-28 lead was instead a 40-28 lead. The ensuing kickoff by Prudy-Calderon took it 95 yards to the house to cut the Trojan lead to five.  

Anderson answered in just over two minutes, hoping to deliver a final blow to the Rattlers. That wasn’t quite the case, as next series Johnson ran it in for his fourth touchdown run of the game and the Anderson lead was cut to 47-42 with 9:31 remaining in the game.

Once again, on the very next kickoff, the Rattlers special teams did it again. Brown was able to recover a fumble and return it for six and give the Rattlers a 48-47 lead.

Anderson had one last shot to go and take the game back, but a missed 35 yard field goal with 5:45 left allowed Johnson and the Rattlers to run out the remaining time and win it by a final score of 48-47.

This game pushed the Rattlers to a 4-0 district record, with one game left, and dropped Austin Anderson to 2-2.

After escaping Austin with a win, the Rattlers will face undefeated Bowie next Friday for the district championship. That game will be Friday, November 4 at San Marcos High School stadium. Catch the game on KTSW 89.9 or stream it online at KTSW.net.

Featured Image by Shalnora Worlds