COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF

San Marcos and New Braunfels Canyon clash in the final game of the regular season. The last meeting between the two teams took place in 2019 when both teams looked for their first wins of the season in a showdown of 0-9 teams.
Daily Record photo by Nick Castillo

San Marcos battles Canyon to close out season

The Countdown to Kickoff series takes a look at the upcoming season for the San Marcos Rattlers.

This week will preview the Rattlers final game of the regular season when San Marcos hosts the New Braunfels Canyon Cougars.

The Cougars finished the 2023 season with a 7-4 record and finished in third place in the 5A D1 District 12 standings.

Canyon qualified for the playoffs but fell in the Bi-District round to the Cedar Park Timberwolves 20-16.

Canyon was elevated to Class 6A due to having an enrollment larger than 2,275 and was placed in District 29 along with San Marcos.

Not only will the Cougars be in the new classification but will also be under a new head coach following the departure of Nate Leonard, who left to take over at McKinney High School.

Sean McAuliffe will lead the Canyon football program after five seasons at Cypress Ranch High School. McAuliffe was also previously the head coach of Converse Judson for five seasons between 2014-2018.

The Cougars return four offensive starters from last year’s team that averaged 33.3 points per game.

Quarterback Reece Deitrick will look to lead the offense this year for the Cougars after starting last season. Deitrick passed for 2,424 yards and 26 touchdowns last season while running for 135 yards and five touchdowns.

Running back Jackson Reagan also returns after leading the offense in rushing yards last year. Reagan ran for 640 yards on 112 carries and nine touchdowns. Reagan also caught 11 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns.

Jackson Kuenzi returns as the Cougars leading receiver making 31 catches for 401 yards and two touchdowns.

The Canyon defense returns eight defensive starters that held opposing offenses to an average of 18.6 points per game during the regular season.

Linebacker Luke Helm will look to lead the defense after making 75 total tackles, five sacks and one interception last year.

The San Marcos-Canyon series dates back to 1998 when the two schools were placed in the same district.

The Rattlers won the first ever meeting between the two teams in a 45-15 romping, setting up their thrilling rematch a year later.

In the district opener for both teams the following season, Canyon and San Marcos combined for over 760 yards of total offense and 91 total points in an offensive shootout.

The Cougars trailed 35-21 at halftime before taking a 42-25 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The Rattlers tied the game at 42-42 following a Gilbert Palomares one yard touchdown run. Palomares later scored the game winning touchdown on a two yard run to give the Rattlers a 4942 win.

The series continued during the 2000 and 2001 seasons with San Marcos dominating both games winning 48-0 and 46-7 before going on hiatus.

The two teams did not meet again until the 2006 season where the series would be played intermittently from 2006 through 2019 with 10 games played.

Canyon finally got their first win over San Marcos during the 2006 season with a 23-21 win over the Rattlers.

San Marcos got their revenge in 2007 with a 28-21 win before the Cougars rattled off four straight wins over the Rattlers during the 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2013 seasons.

The Rattlers snapped their losing streak against the Cougars in 2016 with a 37-20 win before beating the Cougars again in 2017 in a 39-20 win.

Canyon defeated San Marcos 49-21 in 2018 to set up their famous, or rather infamous, showdown in 2019.

Both teams entered the final game of the regular season with identical 0-9 records with the winner taking home their first win of the season and the loser being handed the dreaded 0-10 season.

San Marcos pulled through in the end to take a 27-20 win over the Canyon to avoid the winless season.

The Rattlers lead the series 8-6 over the Cougars.

Kickoff for San Marcos- Canyon is scheduled for Friday Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m. from Toyota Rattler Stadium in San Marcos.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc