Michael Romero followed the key block of guard Kakhi Maxwell on the Rebels' first touchdown of the game in a 34-17 win over San Marcos at Shelton Stadium. (Photo by Cyndy Slovak-Barton)
By JASON GORDON
No one wearing red and blue on the field or in the stands at Shelton Stadium forgot how much fun it is to beat San Marcos.
In the first matchup between the two county rivals since 2003, the Hays offense scored seemingly at will against the Rattlers early en route to a 34-17 victory.
“Our coaches have been telling us since two-a-days how much these guys want to beat us,” Hays guard Kakhi Maxwell said. “It’s San Marcos – it’s always going to be a big game no matter long it’s been since we played them.”
Hays scored the first five times it had the football, as sophomore quarterback Caleb Kimbro found multiple ways to lead his team into the end zone.
On the opening drive of the game Maxwell drove two would-be San Marcos tacklers into the ground with a block that freed up Michael Romero for a 9-yard touchdown run.
Hays (2-1) used Kimbro’s 28-yard keeper on third-and-long to set up its next score, a Tony Garza 2-yard dive.
The most dramatic play in the game came with three minutes gone in the second quarter on second-and-21. That’s when Hays head coach Bob Shelton pulled a little Halloween trickery several weeks early, as Kimbro took a reverse pitch from junior quarterback Mason Cervenka deep in the backfield before pulling up and lofting a pass to a wide open Ty Green for a 26-yard touchdown to make it 20-3.
“We needed something to happen there,” Shelton said. “Those plays are always pretty when they work.”
After San Marcos (0-2) countered with a 17-yard Ryan Marin touchdown run, Kimbro’s 40-yard run set up his 8-yard touchdown pass to Billy Tabor with less than a minute to play in the first half and Hays led 27-10 at the break.
The Rebels put the game away late in the third quarter when Kimbro, who finished with 155 total yards, burst free for a 26-yard run to set up his own 12-yard scoring scamper.
“We had guys out of position too many times on defense,” San Marcos head coach Steve Van Nest said. “Bottom line, Hays just played a better game than we did tonight.”
San Marcos tried to creep closer late in the game, but a recovered fumble after a muffed punt by Stephen Luna, a 10-yard tackle for loss by big defensive lineman Austin Reyes and an interception by Rebel linebacker Mark Oldham kept the Rattlers at bay.
“You could tell by the atmosphere when we walked out here that this was going to be an exciting game,” Hays defensive end Alan Marin said. “There’s been a lot of smack talk this week, and it feels really good to come out of here with a win.”
Cervenka, who had key first down runs of 24 and 13 yards in Hays’ opening scoring drive, completed three passes for 23 yards in the game. Just like in the opening win against Akins, Cervenka, who sat out last week’s loss to Anderson with a knee injury, and Kimbro switched out every other series at quarterback against the Rattlers.
Hays next travels to Hutto for a game with the Hippos on Friday night.
